Alexa Chung Loves This One Controversial Y2K Fashion Trend

The quintessential It Girl is back with a new collection. This time, though, Alexa Chung for Madewell is channelling the cheekier side of her personal style.

Dropping on November 10, the 35-piece capsule embodies the signature mix of wardrobe essentials and one-of-a-kind vintage finds that’s kept her personal style on Tumblr moodboards and Instagram saved folders for more than a decade… with an extra dose of wit for good measure. “It definitely speaks to how eclectic my wardrobe is, and also how all of my favorite things in my wardrobe are vintage,” Chung tells InStyle. “Day to day, I really do just wear stuff that I’ve thrifted or found. I’m always trying to find something unique, with an irreverent character to it.”

Silly baby tees, like the “Dream Castle” long-sleeve that Chung proudly claims means “absolutely nothing” and the “New York Is My Lover” hoodie, tap into her “fake merch” obsession and beloved thrift finds. Others, like the dreamy slip dresses and off-duty ’70s rocker button-downs, lay the foundation for outfit magic when you pair unlikely pieces. (Chung’s recommendation? Wear the sweatshirt with the sexy leather skirt, or throw your favorite pair of jeans under the lace slip dress.)

There’s also a feel-good cardigan, plenty of sharp outerwear, and a cool-girl tux jumpsuit to take you through the holidays. Ahead, Alexa Chung breaks down her style evolution, fashion inspiration, and closet heroes.

How Alexa Chung for Madewell Reflects Her Personal Style

This time, it was much more eclectic and couched generally in the holiday zone. It’s certainly rooted in my own personal style. It’s fairly vintage-inspired, but I think the way it’s blended together is quite modern.

This collection is very classic individually, but together it’s quite eccentric. I think that probably is reflective of my style.

Her Standout Pieces

The fringe jacket I’m obsessed with and can’t wait to have—I don’t have my sample yet, but I really want it. Also, there’s a leather skirt with a silver buckle that I love.

Our slip dresses are so gorge, and I’m always wondering what to wear for New Year’s Eve or someone’s big birthday or something. And I love the ease the slip dresses offer. So you don’t look like you’ve tried too hard, but you’re also low-key, quite sexy. There’s also a navy blue jacket with a strong shoulder, kind of inspired by a teddy boy look. It’s definitely got that more ’50s structure to it. I also think I’d wear the hoodie quite a lot day to day.

How She Thinks About Her Collections

I always write lists of clothes I need—not clothes I want, but more as in what’s missing in the wardrobe—and a skirt is up there. So I’m thrilled to solve that problem with this leather skirt. There’s a crochet cream cardigan that I absolutely love, and I love that it is perfect for the winter season. But I can also imagine it being great in spring for a lighter dress.

Why She Loves Fake Merch

I love the idea of fake merch. We’re in a time where ultimate specificity is really appealing. I think it’s because everything became so broad and so shared that, actually, suddenly, someone with this point of view—and you can’t get more specific than Witches Bitches or New York Is My Lover—it’s very appealing,

Dream Castle was just very amusing to me. Dream Castle means absolutely nothing. New York Is My Lover is sort of a joke, as well. At the dawn of the internet, I did a video 1000 years ago where I’m showing everyone Williamsburg. It’s peak 2009, and I’m going on about New York being my lover. So it’s kind of a rep or a thread to my first-ever Madwell collection—it’s a nod to our past together. I just really like the audacity of remaking New York City’s merch.

We’re witches bitches is from a friend of mine in France, because we talk about how we are able to magic stuff our way and how there are always synchronicities that unfold throughout the day. I always text, We’re witches bitches, so I kind of made it for him to make him laugh (even though he might never see it). That’s where that weird phrase came from.

Why Styling Is Everything

I’m not Fashion Fashion—you know, I just like clothes. If you’re borrowing from a design house, they make you wear the whole look, head to toe. It’s something that’s crept in in the last five years, and I really missed the olden days [when you could style it yourself]. There’s something in how you interpret it, and that’s true of this gaggle of clothes. As much as I think the logical way that I would put it together, I really love seeing how other people interpret it.

It all does go together, but it sort of doesn’t go logically. I love the men’s stripey button-down paired with the silk tracksuit pajama trousers. I also love that these are pajamas to be worn outdoors.

The Boomerang Trend She’s Into

I’ve started wanting to wear slip dresses over jeans, suddenly. And it feels so right, you know? And you’re like, Oh, this is great. Why have we not been doing this for a while? So I’m excited for that, and I think we’ve made really beautiful slips. So it would be nice to see that combined with denim.

Who She’s Following In Fashion

Obviously, anyone who Danielle Goldberg dresses is looking great—fantastic taste. But also, I also love Greta Lee. I love Ayo Edibiri. I mean, I love Zoe Kravitz—she’s just chronically gorgeous. And on Instagram, I started following Sofia Testino, who I think is really cool.

What She Thinks About Trends

I find trends really interesting because, in my mind, they’re less about our moving towards something than about everyone moving away from something else. I think we don’t talk about that enough. I’m sure some people are like, I want to copy this and this and this and this. But also, I think it’s more that we all have a natural repulsion to what we’ve just worn.

For so long, very low-wasted boxy jeans have been here, and they look so mega on so many people. And every week I see someone heralding someone else, bringing back the skinny and the mid rise again. And it’s like, are you just making that one up?

Her Favorite References

Kramer vs. Kramer. [Meryl Streep] has got a good trench on. [Dustin Hoffman] also has fantastic trainers and denim. I love that sort of WASP-y look that quite a few Manhattan films of that era have… sort of like the Tina Barney photos of families and how they dress. It’s really interesting for me to look at American fashion.

Of course, we’ve got to look forward to the JFK Jr. TV show with Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy—that’s about to explode. I also look at old pictures of Lee Radziwill and what she wore. I love that she was so chic as she aged.

How Her Personal Style Has Evolved

I used to get dressed based on how I was being treated. When I was younger and I was modeling, I wanted people to focus on what I was saying, rather than what I looked like. I saw clothes as armor, and deliberately made it relatively sexless. Then I moved into a coquettish, in my mind, a French New Wave style—you know, I’m Mia Farrow, and I’m Anna Karina. It was always cinema-led; it was always playing a character.

The older I get, the more I dress like a sort of ’70s singer. I’m not the dude on the stage, but more like Bowie in the ’90s or a male lead singer at an airport circa 1991.