CONVICTED drug user and Muslim convert Michelle Leslie made a triumphant return to the catwalk last night as the final model in the much heralded Azzollini 2006-07 spring-summer swimwear collection.

Organisers clearly wanted to make a strong statement that, despite being found guilty of possession of the drug ecstasy in Bali, Leslie was back in the fashion fold. Closing the show with a smile, she hugged both of the label’s designers.

Leslie was freed from Bali’s Kerobokan prison in November after serving three months’ jail.

CONVICTED drug user and Muslim convert Michelle Leslie made a triumphant return to the catwalk last night as the final model in the much heralded Azzollini 2006-07 spring-summer swimwear collection.

Organisers clearly wanted to make a strong statement that, despite being found guilty of possession of the drug ecstasy in Bali, Leslie was back in the fashion fold. Closing the show with a smile, she hugged both of the label’s designers.

Her appearances on the catwalk were greeted with spontaneous applause from the packed audience of fashion insiders.

“How amazing was everybody?” she said, delighted with the reception.

“It was like a welcome home. It is great to be back at work. I’m happy to be back doing what I have always done. Thank you everyone.”

Azzollini co-owner Kate Nicholes dismissed questions on the Bali scandal.

“We are not going there,” she said. “We make swimwear. She looks great in it. We are happy to have her in our show.

“She is a great personal and professional friend and she has always supported us since we began in 2003.”

Napoleon Perdis, who did Leslie’s make-up, said he could see no conflict between the show’s focus on sex, glamour and money and the model’s attested Islamic faith.

“I think Muslim women are very empowered and as modern as any women,” he said.

“Michelle wants to show they are equally empowered. I don’t see any issue with that. At the end of the day, Muslim women also believe in beauty.”

He said Leslie had been selected to finish the show to make a statement about freedom, the body and beauty.

Leslie was freed from Bali’s Kerobokan prison in November after serving three months’ jail.

Production manager Victoria Fisher said Leslie had always been in the Azzollini shows.

“She is a great model, of course we are going to use her,” she said. “We are using her because she is a great model and good swimwear girls are hard to find. They have to have good bodies, not just good faces, but Michelle is the whole package.”

A New Idea story reports that the 24-year-old model has been inspired by a “life-changing” experience after a recent visit to a Cambodian orphanage.

She told the magazine she was a lifetime supporter of World Vision.

Also published on news.com.au as Drug model returns to catwalk.