Does Alexa Chung Still Have ‘It’?
The New York Times
She calls herself a “geriatric ‘it’ girl.” The brand Madewell calls her an “original muse.” Just don’t call this look “indie sleaze.”
It was a different world when Alexa Chung rose to sartorial power.
She wore high-neck blouses with flat pointy shoes. She wore black tights under denim shorts. In paparazzi photos, holding hands with her indie rock boyfriend, she wore peacoats over minidresses. So we — women around her age, give or take five years — wore peacoats over minidresses, too.
The year was 2009, and “influencer” and “creator” were not yet jobs. Ms. Chung, then 26, was an MTV host during the final era of that being the coolest job on the planet.
On a sticky afternoon this summer, inside a dark bar on Avenue B in Manhattan, I asked Ms. Chung, now 40, how she defined her job these days.
“It’s so hard, isn’t it?” Ms. Chung said. “I guess designer.”
She had recently asked the 12-year-old daughter of her partner (the actor Tom Sturridge) what she thought she did. “You’re a writer,” the girl replied. That’s also true enough; Ms. Chung contributes sporadic essays to The Financial Times. In 2013, she released a pink coffee-table book, “It,” during a particularly active time in her social life.
