Australian model Lara Bingle leaves for New York to revive her career and rebuild her reputation.

After dumping celebrity agent Max Markson, Bingle booked a flight to the Big Apple where she hopes to find better modelling opportunities in one of fashion's most cut-throat cities.

"I know I need to build up people's respect and I'm going to have to start at the bottom and work up," she told Grazia.

Insiders predict that she'll be facing some struggles, with one respected fashionista saying, "New York is all about high end fashion campaigns and editorial work."

"Lara is simply too short for the catwalk and she has no presence on the international runway to help secure editorial."

Bingle told her friends that she loves the city where her former fiance, Australian cricket vice captain Michal Clarke, proposed to her two years ago.

Clarke was supposed to make a stop at New York for a few days but apparently changed his mind and was already home in Bondi by the weekend.

Meanwhile, news say that Bingle met with publicist Maria Farmer, but Farmer denies it.