Bingle's local fashion feast
She may be the "it girl" of Australian fashion, but despite the constant flow of offers to wear high-end pieces from the world's top designers, swimsuit model Lara Bingle is an avid supporter of emerging homegrown talent.
Jetting into Perth yesterday afternoon ahead of her appearance at prolific WA designer Garth Cook's spring-summer launch, the 25-year-old said that while she loved her lavish international pieces, she was all about supporting Australia's growing pool of budding designers.
"I've been an avid supporter of Australian designers for years and years now," she said.
"I love international designers but Australia, I think, personally has the best designers. When you are lucky enough to fly around and support people that are in the same industry you're in, you give to them and they give back to you.
"It's a nice feeling. Coming here and seeing Garth's show will be exciting for me."
Bingle, who hasn't been in Perth since she attended WA-raised designer Kym Ellery's trunk show in early 2011, said she looked forward to exploring the city and also planned to hit some of WA's beaches today.
"I travel like every week but I haven't been to Perth in a long time," she said. "I'm going to check out the beaches or something. I love being in Perth."
She also added that she was willing to tackle her fear of sharks just to take a dip at one of the city's pristine beaches.
"I'm scared of sharks but I really, really want to go for a swim. Someone told me about some rock pools here . . . so I really want to go check those out."
Bingle will be front and centre at Cook's show tonight at The Promenade at Bishop's See in the CBD before hitting the after-party at The Terrace Hotel, where she is staying.
She will mingle with a number of well-known faces in Perth's social scene, including Andrew and Rayne Embley, Chris Masten and Emmi Moore, Sam and Natasha Butler and local fashionistas Poppy Lissiman and Zara Bryson before flying out to embark on more globetrotting travels tomorrow.
