Meet the model: Heather Kemesky

I LIVE BETWEEN NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES. I’ve lived in New York for five years and my girlfriend [model Erika Linder] and I bought a place in LA a year ago. New York has an amazing energy but I get antsy there after a week, and California is great but after a while I get bored, so I have the best of both worlds.

MODELING MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO PLAN. You never know where the next job is going to be, and you have to travel a lot so it can be tough. But there is a freedom to it; I can be based anywhere and because my girlfriend is also a model she has the flexibility to come and join me.

IT TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO WORK OUT MY STYLE. Now I’d say I’m definitely an eclectic and non-exclusive dresser because I wear a mix of menswear and womenswear. It’s really just putting on whatever I feel most comfortable in. There are staple pieces that have been with me forever: I have a vintage pair of Versace combat boots that I’ve completely worn into the ground and glued back together so many times – whether they’re on my feet or in my suitcase, they’re always with me. Anyone who knows me knows those boots are coming to the grave with me, for sure.

I’M HAPPIEST WHEN I’M OUTSIDE. I recently bought a skateboard for old times’ sake that I’m keeping in LA; in New York I’ve got rollerblades because it seemed more appropriate. I like activities more than workouts and it’s hard to have a routine when you travel so much. I do different classes here and there; I’ll go for a hike or I’ll go swimming in the ocean or be out in nature.

I’VE LOVED COOKING SINCE I WAS A KID. When my mom went out to work, she’d always have to warn our nanny not to let me use the stove because I’d make a big mess and I was always burning myself. Now I have a talent for making stuff from nothing; I call them ‘dumpster dishes’, creating things out of whatever I can find [in the kitchen]. It’s a useful skill to have!

MY HAIR HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN. It’s curly and unruly and it does what it wants, so I typically have haircuts that don’t have to be styled, I can just wake up and go. I like to wash it at night and sleep on it, so if I wake up and it’s really crazy, I spray a little water on it. Then if it gets frizzy I just run some of my face lotion through it – I just squish it in and it totally works.