Alexa Chung's World: Her Best-Selling Madewell Collab, Personal Style Icons and Spiciest Fashion Takes

Step into the universe of the coolest creatives in the fashion industry with Who What Wear US's new series My World, where readers will discover how the top stylists, designers, and tastemakers built their careers; their favourite under-the-radar restaurants and hotels, beloved deep-cut album, and fashion finds; etiquette rules they stand by; and so much more.

The year was 2007. Images of a then fairly unknown Brit appeared in blog posts online and the pages of magazines. She was attending Glastonbury Music Festival clad in a leather motorcycle jacket, striped tee, denim shorts, and tight over-the-knee boots. She appeared seemingly out of nowhere and quickly took hold of the zeitgeist in a way that could only really happen in the mid-2000s. Her name was Alexa Chung and her je ne sais quoi was as difficult to put your finger on as it was influential.

For many of us, the first "style icon" who ever held influence over us was none other than Chung. Long before the social media algorithms or Pinterest boards, there was a little website called Tumblr.com, where you would search for and collect fashion and cultural inspiration, and Chung was its reigning queen supreme.

Flash forward to the present day, and Chung is the multi-hyphenate supreme, floating effortlessy between creative pursuits and deftly defying any single concrete label. On the one hand, she's a published author. Her coffee table book, It, comprised of personal writings, drawings, and photographs, was published in 2014, and she's a regular contributor to the Financial Times. But she's also a model, having walked recent runways for Chloé and Miu Miu, and when she's not modelling, she's seated front row at their shows. And lest we forget she's a designer in her own right, too, having helmed her eponymous ready-to-wear label from 2017 to 2022, and she is currently collaborating with Madewell on her third capsule collection for the brand.

Ahead, Chung shares more about her career journey that led her to the ultimate It-girl title, her perpetually sold-out collaboration Madewell, where she likes to spend her rare downtime while at home in London, and so much more. Step into Chung's world.

You’ve worn so many hats over the years, from your design and business ventures to being a published author. I'm sure it's impossible to choose, but if you had to drop everything to focus on one thing, what would it be?

I'd love to be a creative director because that job encompasses everything. I do enjoy design, but I also love art direction and thinking about how people wear the clothes and the life that they live. Storytelling is quite important to me, so I enjoy all of that. You get to do the copywriting for the website, but you also get to seed out the gifting and think about strategy with influencers. And you're doing design and styling and campaign imagery—you're at the top of the funnel.

You've just launched the third instalment of your collection for Madewell. What were some of the references on your mood board when designing this one?

I wanted it to be a lot more personal and a celebration of my own wardrobe and personal style. I had this amazing image on my mood board of Fran Lebowitz, who's obviously an iconic New York character. There's an amazing image of her on a white sofa or armchair at an Oscars party, and to me, it evoked the exact atmosphere and feeling that I was trying to create in this collection, which is that sort of holiday-season party where you're dressed up. In this particular photo, she's wearing a tuxedo, but our response to it, I made a tuxedo jumpsuit, which I really love because it's casual but also dressed-up.

What is one item on your shopping list at the moment?

I love shoes at the moment that are almond-toe mini heels, like a modern take on an '80s heel. I love that you can wear that with thick socks, and you feel quite put-together, even if you're in denim and a sweatshirt. An unexpected colored sock and then those little '80s shoes would look so cute.

What would you say is the most quintessentially British thing about your wardrobe?

It's that I've got more outerwear and coats than I have anything else. There's actually a real problem in terms of space versus reality. Even though I have a wardrobe, I have a rolling rack of just coats because I don't have enough space. I love outerwear so much, so I think that's the tell that I'm a Brit because I'm really committed to surviving all weather and still going outside. I won't take the cab. I'll walk to the tube regardless.

You’ve worn so many iconic looks over the years. Is there one that you look back on fondly? What’s the story behind how it came to life?

The first one that comes to mind is the Loewe silk dress with the trompe l'oeil trench coat printed onto it. I just want to own that, and [after I borrowed it to wear to the 2023 British Vogue Forces for Change party], the courier came to pick it up at 9 a.m. the next morning, like Cinderella, and I just think about it all the time. I think I'd wear it all the time.

Many consider you a style icon, but who would you say are your own style icons?

I think Fran Lebowitz for sticking to her guns and wearing just one look essentially. Then, there's this brand in Paris called Husbands that does men's tailoring. The designer and owner, Nicolas Gabard, is the chicest man in the world. And then, I love Mrs. Prada. I mean, still keeping us on our toes, like when she came out to take a bow [at the end of the Prada spring/summer 2026 show] and was wearing a silk shawl. And then I do find myself looking at old pictures of Lee Radziwill, especially when she's in her 40s or 50s, [when] she started wearing a lot of one-shoulder gowns.

What is one detail about your home that people would be surprised by?

I love putting pictures in weird places. This is a print by Tracey Emin that I love, and I hung it on my bedroom door. It makes a really annoying clanging noise when you open the door, but I put up with it because I love how it looks.

Where is your favorite local spot that feels like an extension of your home?

I love Dover Street Market in London. I have lunch there at the Rose Bakery on my own all the time.

What is the one travel destination you can't stop dreaming about?

Le Sirenuse. I went in early summer to this stunning hotel in Positano and find myself scrolling back to the pictures to admire their interiors and the chronic vistas.

What is an item you bring to keep yourself grounded when traveling?

Charvet slippers. I ended up getting the silver pair, but now wish I got red! What they lack in friendliness they more than make up for in mega shirts and pyjamas. Haha.

What is Alexa Chung's ultimate party trick?

Me and my friends play a lot of Trivial Pursuit but without the board. You all as a team have to get through one card before you can go to bed, and it usually takes far too long. Sports really trips us up.

Since Manhattan was a huge source of inspiration for your Madewell collection, which are your favorite quintessentially New York films that you revisited?

I think there's something really fun about observing American culture as an outsider and romanticizing it, and what helps me drive that home, in my mind, is all of the movies that I watched or associate with Manhattan. Manhattan, Annie Hall, and then also Taxi Driver even, honestly, Die Hard, and Party Girl, that movie Parker Posey's in.

What band or album are you currently listening to on repeat?

I love Fontaine’s D.C. I caught their gig at Finsbury Park recently.

You’re widely regarded as an It girl, and even the title of your book is a reference. What is your relationship like with that term, and has it changed over the years?

I think that when I first started, that was confusing to people in Britain, because I would write things for a newspaper at the time, and then I would host a TV show, and then I would make clothes. That was 2007, and they'd be like, "Oh, she's an It girl."

Nowadays, it doesn't necessarily resonate with me, but I do find it an interesting term for other people. I don't think the term will ever go away, either, because it is so exciting and powerful when when someone turns up and offers a new energy that feels really modern, and you can't really describe what that factor or that allure or that charisma is that they possess.

Are there any fashion eras your closet has seen that you never want to relive?

Peter Pan collars make me unwell at this point. Like, I just can't. Even a Mary Jane, to a certain extent.

If we were to peek into your camera roll, what would we see a lot of?

I randomly take a lot of pictures of fonts for inspiration for graphic design in the future in case I need them for T-shirts or other projects.

Shop Alexa Chung for Madewell