It’s been a long time coming but it’s finally here, Alexa Chung has launched her own, self titled fashion label ALEXACHUNG, and last night her debut collection hit the runway in the most hotly anticipated stand alone show since, well, ever.
If this feels familiar, it’s because Chung is THE most prolific fashion collaborator on the planet. She was given unprecedented access to the M&S archive to curate and spin her own seasonal collections based on her own personal style and so successful was this high profile collaboration, it was credited with bringing a whole new audience flocking to M&S. The same applies to Mulberry, it’s famous Alexa satchel breathed new life into the brand and when Chung herself was pictured using the bag, sales and subsequently profits soared. Despite sticking with the celebrity endorsement model, Mulberry have never been able to replicate the success of that one hot collaboration with Chung – coined The Alexa Effect.
2017 sees Chung take the leap from Brand Ambassador to Fashion Designer, when you’re listed as the most influential person in global fashion, it’s an obvious next step. Chung’s debut show took place at the packed out Danish Church in St Johns Wood (my old stomping ground) to a soundtrack provided by a children’s choir and it was, well, very Alexa Chung.
“The first season is about getting to know it, although, having said that, there was this narrative about a posh west London girl corrupted by a music scene and getting sexed up.” Alexa Chung on her debut collection
The collection is exactly what you would expect from Alexa Chung, ironically this is a collection like no other in that its success hinges on its predictability. Chung has a definite go to style that girls the world over attempt to replicate in their own wardrobes, with Chung at the helm of her own label, curating her own wardrobe, if the collection reaches peak predictability, it also reaches peak success. Of her collections going forward, Chung says that there will be a distinct narrative to every season to prevent it from looking like “a spray of clothes that you’d find on my floor”
“It’s been a long time gestating, I started doing this when I turned 30. Any time before then, I was either having too much fun or too far away in New York or working too hard on everything else, doing five jobs simultaneously.”
The collection follows the ‘See Now Buy Now’ model and right now, Chung is working on the sixth collection, with a team of 17 people behind the brand, Chung and her backers are doing everything they can to ensure the success of the fledgling business and with Edwin Bodson (formerly of Haider Ackermann) as MD, the safeguards are pretty sound.
“I’m not making ultra forward-thinking, mind-blowing creations.”
As you would imagine, the collection plays to Chung’s strengths, from pinafore dresses to floaty Summer dresses and wide legged jeans to breton stripes, this debut collection appears firmly rooted in the 60s and 80s with that Alexa Chung modernity to roughen up the edges. With a price point that starts at £75 for a tee rising to £1350 for a leather jacket, Chung claims the collection is accessible – others may disagree given that her Archive collection with M&S retailed at an average of £50 per piece however Chung’s Midas touch shows no signs of abating.
The ALEXACHUNG pre Fall 17 collection launches to the buying public today and is available at 55 luxury retailers including Selfridges, Matches, MyTheresa and Galeries Lafayette as well as via the brand’s own website.
Pixie xo