The infinite cool of Alexa Chung The queen of style

Which A-lister is quietly taking over the world – as well as our wardrobes – oh, and totally makes us want to be in her gang? It’s got to be the queen of style, the seriously chic Alexa Chung.

Alexa Chung is explaining why, despite appearances to the contrary, she isn’t a style icon. “It’s a funny title for my friends to observe,” she says. “In my circle, no one would ever ask me for fashion advice. We don’t talk about clothes, really, and I mainly wear jeans and a jersey. This,” she gestures at her chic, high-necked floral blouse, culotte jeans and black patent boots with exactly the right amount of heel, “is as snazzy as it gets.”

But there’s little doubt that outside her immediate circle, Alexa is seen as an arbiter of taste. At 32, after a decade in the public eye as a TV presenter, author, fashion muse and DJ, she’s a regular presence on front rows and best-dressed lists. She’s designed collections for Madewell and AG, was an ambassadress for Chanel, and Mulberry named a bag after her – the bestselling ‘Alexa’. Her tomboyish elegance has inspired the droves of women who follow her on Instagram (2.2 million followers at last count).

But, she explains, her close friends, a photogenically cool bunch that includes Pixie Geldof, Daisy Lowe and Poppy Delevingne, keep her grounded. “They make fun of me fashion wise. I’ll walk in and they’ll say, ‘Here she is, style icon Alexa Chung, ladies and gentlemen,’ and I’m in Ugg boots and a cardigan with some soup down it.”

Alexa loves her friends, and is very much a woman’s woman. “I kind of wish I was gay – it would be so much easier,” she says. “I have, like, a million girlfriends who I would love to date.”

Her attitude to life seems to mirror her attitude to clothes – unpretentious, accessible and always on the side of the woman who’s wearing them. Her latest project is no exception; in April, she launched a collaboration with classic British institution Marks & Spencer. She was given free reign to delve into the M&S archive in order to select key pieces that could be reinterpreted and given a modern spin.

The result, Archive By Alexa, is a capsule collection of ready-to-wear delights, including ribbed pink knits and houndstooth trousers. Each garment is named after one of the most popular baby names in 1884, the year Marks & Spencer first opened its doors. A grey pleated skirt, for example, is called Effie. The pink knit is Myrtle. As part of the research, Alexa was invited to rummage around the M&S archives and found inspiration in the Princess Dianastyle blouses and Hawaiian prints, using this as a jump-off point for the clothes that were to be remastered.

“It was genuinely amazing,” Alexa reveals. “I welled up because a lot of the pieces in their exhibition were donated. One was this tea dress from the 1940s. The woman said that she donated it because it was what she wore on her first date with her husband, who has since passed away, and she wanted it to be preserved and remembered,” Alexa explains.

Does she shop at Marks & Spencer? She nods forcefully. “Dad jerseys, socks and trousers. And, you know, they have the odd thing you see in a magazine and you’re like, ‘Sick!’ But really, my reintroduction to it happened when I was sent this suede, high-waisted skirt with double pockets. It was so amazing that I thought it was Chloé.”

For the last four years, Alexa has been splitting her time between her two homes in London and New York, where she has an apartment. She loves her adopted city, having moved there in the wake of her breakup with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner. She had relocated temporarily in 2009 to front a daily live show for MTV called It’s On With Alexa Chung, but the show was cancelled after two seasons, partly because the US TV executives didn’t understand her irreverent

“In my circle [of friends], no one would ever ask me for fashion advice.”

“I’ve just never imagined my wedding. I don’t have a dream dress and I don’t have a plan.”

British humour, and partly because her refreshingly honest ability to say exactly what she wanted at any moment was also lost in translation.

After that, Alexa explains, “I just didn’t know where to put myself. So I was like, ‘I need a fresh start – where do I go?’ And I didn’t feel as though I was done with New York yet.”

It was also at a point when interest in her private life was at its most fervent. She could barely walk down a London street without having a paparazzi lens thrust in her face, or fans stopping to ask her for selfies. Online, she was the subject of Twitter death threats.

“There was certainly an element of escapism,” she admits, “which is the classic New York story. Mainly everyone there is sort of running away from something, which makes the energy a certain way.”

These days, she’s careful not to reveal too much of her personal life. She insists that she has a fairly low-key existence, hanging out with friends and watching DVD box sets ( her recent obsessions include the online documentary Making A Murderer and The Affair: “Ruth Wilson blushes in the perfect parts. It’s insane!”).

Although she’s rumoured to be dating True Blood and The East actor Alexander Skarsgård, she refuses to answer any questions about her relationship, navigating the precarious line between a public profile while also being an incredibly private person.

So, how does she avoid unwanted attention? “I’m not courting it,” she says. “I’ve always gone out with people who don’t want to be seen around. So I don’t do it either. I’ve never been like, ‘This is ‘The One’ – let’s photograph ourselves together!’ In my mind, it’s only my family and my friends who look at my Instagram feed.”

And, really, Alexa has never grown out of the feeling that she’s a normal schoolgirl who got lucky. She’s one of four children and describes her upbringing in the small English village of Privett as “the most middle class you could imagine.” Her father, Philip, is a retired graphic designer, while her mother, Gillian, is a housewife.

Alexa was scouted three times as a model before signing with Storm Model Management at 16 years old. She left school with two As and a B as well as an offer to study English at King’s College in London, but by then she was far too busy modelling to take it up. After that, she became a TV presenter, first popping up on TVS as the drily hilarious co-presenter of Channel 4’s music show Popworld, which lead her to become a regular stable on more youth TV shows.

In the past, she’s said that her time as a model made her self-critical and insecure. “But I wonder if it was actually just being young,” she reflects now. “Modelling was the lens through which I look at that, but I think that it was more about being a young woman and not feeling secure in your body anyway, and then to be photographed and scrutinised makes you kind of hyper-aware of it.” These days, “I just don’t care as much.”

Turning 30 two years ago, Alexa explains, was a kind of liberation. Her friends have all started getting married and having babies, but, “I don’t have a set idea of how it’s going to turn out. I’ve just never imagined my wedding. I don’t have a dream dress and I don’t have a plan.”

When asked if she still has an inner critic from her modelling days, Alexa replies without pause: “100%! It keeps me awake at night [ because] I just want things to be really good, but, actually, I think as I’ve got older, it’s more about trusting your instinct, trusting that you might know.”

On the surface at least, it would seem that she leads a charmed life; beauty, brains, success and a handsome actor boyfriend. It’s rare to hear an honest admission of insecurity in a celebrity interview, but I imagine it’s also what gives Alexa her unique edge. Despite her starriness, she’s never lost the ability to laugh at and make fun of herself, or to keep things in perspective – and that involves talking about her weaknesses as well as strengths.

She says that when she reads celebrity interviews, “Sometimes you wish that they’d just be like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m suffering from incredible anxiety and my life’s all messed up!’ because it’s always like, ‘And then I have my husband and my children and I run this business and everything’s perfect.’ I bet that behind the scenes, there’s some really bad stuff going on there.”

“My inner critic keeps me awake at night. But I think as I’ve got older, it’s more about trusting your instinct.”

These days, Alexa’s made peace with the fact that she doesn’t have one career, but picks and chooses the projects that she’s interested in. She’s currently in the early stages of launching her own fashion label. So, looking back, what have been this fashionista’s worst style mistakes?

“Well, Grade 10 was pretty bad for me style wise because I really liked skateboarders, but I couldn’t skate, so I used to wear sort of cargo pants – really low slung – a studded belt, Pokémon knickers, a cropped Astro Boy T-shirt, way too many beads and a Darth Maul watch. That was quite bad. And huge hoop earrings…” She breaks off. “I always committed to a look.”

Her fashion taste seemed to change according to which band she liked at any given time. When she was into the English rock band Pulp, “it got a bit better. And The Libertines, thank goodness, and The Strokes – and then I figured it all out. And we were off! Before that, it was dodgy,” she admits.

Still, we can’t imagine that this woman of fashion has ever looked bad. Because Alexa Chung’s style isn’t just what she wears: it’s who she is.