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JULY 2014

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WOMEN OF THE YEAR STARRING

Alexa Chung

On why turning 30 was her wake-up call

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E N T R E PR E N E U R A L E X A C H U N G

THE FACE ‌that launched a billion sell-out products. And the brain that created her own. When it comes to business, Alexa Chung doesn’t just have it, she is it.

By Helen Whitaker

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Styled by Alessandra Steinherr Photographs by Derek Kettela

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a fashion “line.I want And I want to make an amazing documentary.

And I want to own a nice rug

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Hair: George Northwood at Emma Davies Agency. Make-up: Florrie White at D+V Management. Manicurist: Adam Slee at Streeters. Shirt by Anthony Vaccarello at brownsfashion.com; trousers by J Brand at harveynichols.com; necklace by Alex Monroe; ring Alexa’s own. Dress by Christopher Kane; shoes by Miu Miu. Top by Dolce & Gabbana

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es, I feel like I’m prick-teasing the world,” announces Alexa Chung.

She’s right, she is. We’re talking about her clothing line. Specifically, the fact that it has long been talked about, but is yet to materialise. “I know,” she murmurs, looking sheepish. “It’s only coming out when it’s exactly right.”

Alexa Chung has become – as they say in fashion – a thing. She’s the person you trawl online galleries for during Fashion Week and festivals to see not just what she’s wearing, but how she’s wearing it. With her thus-far mythical line, we’re not only waiting for clothes, but for an opportunity to buy into Alexa’s particular flavour of insouciant cool.

It’s late on Friday afternoon and we’re drinking Bellinis in a wooden booth at The Delaunay restaurant in London, surrounded by brass lamps and polished marble floors. Fresh from a meeting with Penguin, Alexa’s look is an online gallery case in point. She’s in a vintage Saint Laurent jacket and Charlotte Olympia cat flats, her mouth a slash of red lipstick. She has been in meetings since this morning, at Emilia Wickstead for a fitting for a DJ gig, with her agent about a TV show, about fashion “in general” (her words), her publisher, then here.

There are still quarters, however, that think her job is ‘being Alexa Chung’.

“There’s a gross misunderstanding as to what it is I do on a daily basis,” she says. “People will be like, ‘Have you still got a show?’ and then people in TV will say, ‘Are you doing your line still?’ or friends will be like, ‘What do you mean, you wrote an article? Do you write a bit?’ I think I represent an image maybe more than anything else.”

She hasn’t helped herself, she admits. One story that did the rounds was that she wrote her 2013 book, It, over email from New York to her editor, which makes it sound as though she just fired off some whimsical musings. In reality, she was up until 4am most nights writing pieces and compiling visuals from her photography archive, while working as a host on Fuse News by day. “Sometimes I just say things because I think they sound funny and then they become a thing,” she says in explanation. “And all it does is negate how hard I worked. That’s the thing I’m realising now I’m 30 – you can’t keep P pretending like you don’t give a shit, because

O I really do care about things and put a lot of effort into them.” he book was also a therapeutic project in the approach to her 30th birthday last November.

“I didn’t freak out about not being married or having children,” she says, but she does describe It as “a full stop to a decade, reflecting on quite a fast eight years, and a way to understand where I was and how I got there”. It was a huge success, hitting the best-seller lists in the UK, but that didn’t stop it becoming the subject of several snarky reviews, predominantly from the broadsheets.

“It’s just so ridiculous,” she says.

“It wasn’t for a 40-year-old man at The Times to read, it was something I wanted to make, simply for myself. It just so happened that lots of women liked it.”

‘Women liking it’ somewhat understates Alexa’s power when it comes to hawking product. At the time of going to press, she has over 900k Instagram and 1.3m Twitter followers. She describes herself as a journalist, but more accurately, she is a TV presenter, author, fashion consultant, DJ, brand ambassador and ‘face of’.

She has creative input into every brand she works with. And brands are falling over themselves to have her involved. Her debut range for Eyeko in 2013 sold out in Selfridges on launch day. Her partnerships with Nails Inc, the British Fashion Council and Oxfam represent just a fraction of what she’s offered.

“It just has to be something I like, that’s it,” she says of how she decides who to collaborate with. “I am

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offered other things which might be more money, but if it’s not a brand that sits well with me then I just don’t affiliate myself with it. I think as a consumer you see partnerships and if it looks a bit eggy it’s because it’s not coming from an honest place.”

She’s often lauded as a tomboy style icon, but Alexa rejects this label. “I think that’s what people think in their head because of my attitude,” she says, “but Google me in dresses and I’ve got heels on in every picture.” Maybe it’s because the way she dresses isn’t overtly sexy. Still no. “I think it is sexy.

It’s just not being sieved through a boy’s eyes. It’s what women would find sensual and sexy.”

In her opinion, what looks good on a man? “I like boys to have their own sense of style. So it could be a well-tailored suit, or just a lovely jumper and some APC jeans,” she says, and then backtracks. “I don’t mind what they’re wearing, as long as they’re funny.” I’ve been warned in a pre-interview email that relationship chat is off limits today, but I test the water regardless. What else does she look for in a man? “Sense of humour, quick brain, and very caring,” she says. “I don’t know what I like – I’ll just know it when I see it.”

So is she dating? “Yes,” she says. Followed by a silence. Then a laugh. “Yes, full stop.”

Back to the business of Brand Chung. What’s next? “I want to have a fashion line. And I want to make a really amazing documentary.” She ponders for a second while she struggles with sounding serious. “And I want P to own a really nice rug.”

like you don’t give a sh*t, because I really do care about things

PREVIOUS WINNERS INCLUDE Kylie Minogue (2009), Kate Moss (2008), Victoria Beckham (2007) , Elle Macpherson (2005)

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Dress Marc By Marc Jacobs

You can’t “ keep pretending

STRAP

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