Alexa Chung on how therapy helps her cope
As she makes her designer debut at London Fashion Week, Alexa Chung talks to Bethan Holt about coping with fame and blazing a trail as a businesswoman
London Fashion Week begins today and will see Alexa Chung’s first slot on the weekend schedule as a designer. Long a fixture on the front row, she launched her eponymous label in May 2017 as proof, perhaps, that she has always been smarter and sharper than It girl stereotypes suggested; now, with her own brand, based on her trendsetting personal style, the Hampshireborn star is one of Britain’s most high-profile businesswomen.
We meet at the airy Dalston studio where the playlist is being finalised for tomorrow’s show. Chung, 34, is remarkably relaxed – she designed the collection eight months ago, so it’s all details now. She may exude cool confidence but Chung recently told a US magazine that she’s seen a therapist in the past when she feels ‘wobbly’. “That interview was in America, where it’s less frowned upon,” she laughs. “I mean, the context was LA where it’s all how many crystals do you have? What does your chakra therapist say?”
It’s true that in the US, having a therapist is practically de rigueur. But Chung says it was crucial in helping her to deal with the impact of being in the spotlight since the age of 16. “I’ve had quite a weird experience which was one of great privilege, but also one that’s a bit unnatural in that it’s an observed life,” she explains.
For more than a decade, she juggled TV presenting, modelling, Djing, writing for Vogue and fashion collaborations. “I was involved in a lot of jobs which were to do with an output of energy and a lot of shoving stuff out without really taking care of myself,” she says. “So then I got to a point where I’m trotting around pleasing everyone, but what do I actually want to do? [Therapy is] taking a moment to be introspective with someone that’s completely unbiased and not a friend who you can bore with your concerns.”
Chung’s struggles have made her a very modern manager: she wants to introduce yoga and guided meditation for her 30 employees. “I think that’s the good thing about the age we live in, in which millennials such as me are a bit more like ‘hey guys it’s not all just about the empty capitalist pursuit of cash, what about our feelings?’”
This isn’t the only way she is blazing a trail, business-wise. “Behind every great woman are 75 lovely men… with a lot of pocket money,” she quips, when we discuss how she attracted investment in her business. “Without disclosing our entire investment portfolio, we have women who have invested in us as well. But I think
I’d be remiss not to note that a lot of the meetings I walk into when it comes to finance are dominated by men,” she says of an issue being tackled by The
Telegraph’s Women Mean Business campaign, which seeks to close the funding gap for female entrepreneurs.
“There is a lack of women in that environment,” Chung adds. She emphasises that going into business shouldn’t mean conforming to certain expectations, and of course, when your entire proposition is based on your own style and personality, it’s essential to success that you don’t. “Sometimes I worry that maybe I should adapt myself to become a bit more responsible. I set up this company because I wanted to have fun. I don’t know what kind of business lady I am,” she mulls.
“I used to read about businesswomen in magazines and you’d see them sitting on the corner of a desk looking really stern, but now I realise that business comes in all forms. I think that one thing I might have been good at, which might be a female trait, is admitting your faults and being able to bolster the area you might be less good at, with someone that is.”
Tomorrow’s show, which is being supported by Amex as part of their Platinum House project, takes the theme of “Arrivals and Departures”, inspired by Chung’s fascination with airports. “I’m someone who is fortunate to travel a lot. People are at this heightened emotional state, either nervous to fly or apprehensive to meet whoever is on the other side of it – or just excited to catch up on their Netflix downloads,” she quips. Chung has experienced her fair share of being photographed at the airport: a “unique experience, when you’re on a long-haul flight and you get off with eyebags and some wine and teastained clothes. You think, ‘Perfect, I’m sure I look like Rosie Huntingtonwhiteley right now.’”
Although Chung is her own starting point for her collections, she’s been mindful of making pieces with a wider appeal than a simple “would I wear this?” Take a bunnyprint tea dress, which is hanging on a rail outside her office. “I made that with someone with a fuller figure in mind. I found the print on an inspiration trip to Japan. It’s got the belted waist, a nice neckline and you can unbutton it so you can either show your legs or not,” she explains.
She has been paying close attention to planning her show, and the post-catwalk celebrations, too, which Amex platinum card holders can sign up to attend. “We’re good at making clothes, but we’re fantastic at throwing a party,” she offers, adding that she wholeheartedly “encourages mayhem” at the bash. And, in the spirit of practising what she preaches, Chung’s cleared her diary on Sunday to do just that.
‘A lot of the meetings I walk into, when it comes to finance, are dominated by men’