We sat down with
Lara Bingle, who was in Perth for the S/S 11-12 Ellery show, to chat about her upcoming sunglasses collaboration and how she defines her own style.
Harper’s BAZAAR: How did the sunglasses collaboration come about? Lara Bingle: “Well obviously I’ve travelled a lot through modelling and other work and just realised over the last year that I’ve bought so many pairs of sunglasses from overseas, from vintage to higher-end frames, and so I have this massive collection at home and I thought, ‘No celebrity has actually designed a sunglasses range in Australia.’ So I’m joining forces with a brand and a retail chain, so it’s a three-part collaboration.”
HB: So where will you take inspiration from? What are your favourite frames right now?LB: “My three favourites at the moment would be a matte-black pair like the Ellery cat’s-eye frame. I love a Ray-Ban Wayfarer, and plain circular frames, like a nerd-ish type of frame. If it goes to plan I would like to do an eight-piece basics range that is just the core classics, and then have three to four more fashion-forward frames, and then I would like to change those three to four every season.”
HB: So this is the direction you want to take your career at the moment? Would you ever consider collaborating on other fashion ranges? LB: “Yeah, definitely. I would prefer to be behind the scenes and creating as opposed to putting myself out there in the public eye and being a presenter on Getaway, for example — that doesn’t interest me as much. I’m pretty shy; I guess people don’t know that. Over the last four years I’ve become more and more interested in fashion, and I feel that there’s a gap in the market; there’s not that cool kind of It girl type in Australia.”
HB: Blogs such as They All Hate Us have identified you as that girl now, it seems … LB: “Yeah, I mean the Jessica Harts and Megan Gales and Mirandas [Kerr] all have their place. I kind of want to project a more accessible and cool kind of image.”
HB: And the coffee-table book you’re releasing is part of this plan? LB: “Yes, the book is a collaboration between Max May and myself. Max is my best friend and also my makeup artist and has been now for four years. Over the last two years we’ve come up with all these different looks and are both very inspired by that easy Australian glamour, so the images will be very Australian, very raw, lots of cool Polaroid shots. So it’s not a how-to; there won’t be any step-by-step on how to get this look. We’ve thought we might actually do that on our own blog, and in a perfect world I would also release an app.”
HB: Whose style do you admire? LB: “When I’m dressing myself just day-to-day, sometimes I need some inspiration and living in Australia, I always look for inspiration overseas, so Kate Moss, the Olsen twins — that kind of undone style — Alexa Chung, Chloe Sevigny, they would be my favourite four. Also I really love vintage shopping now and mixing it with high-end pieces because in the past, having a stylist, I wasn’t able to do that as much. Now I’m really finding my own way.”
HB: So what are your style staples at the moment? LB: “A good pair of leather pants; I love the ones I have from Bassike. A good blazer, a whole lot of T-shirts, vintage, plain white, grey marle … And I am always on the look-out for great shoes. I love anything by Balenciaga and Pierre Hardy and Celine is one of my favourite brands at the moment. And also my brown Proenza Schouler satchel bag.”
- Anna McLeod
Source: Harpers Bazzar
Date: 5th April 2011
