Alexa Chung Is Ready for a Denim Decor Moment

For many millennials, Alexa Chung is the ultimate style icon. (Were you even part of the cultural zeitgeist if you didn’t post a picture of It somewhere random in your home on Tumblr?) But this season, Madewell is reminding everyone that Chung has always been so much more than an It girl with another capsule collection from their “forever muse.” Arriving 14 years after her debut collaboration with the clothing brand, the latest drop features 11 pieces worth adding to your rotation of timeless staples. Whether you’re looking to channel coastal cowgirl or corporate fetish, there’s something here that works for every aesthetic.

For her second time around the block, Chung was on a mission to define the most wearable denim day-to-day silhouettes that never go out of style. “I really wanted to create my dream denim wardrobe because Madewell is so excellent at producing denim. It was an amazing opportunity because I really missed doing that with my company,” she says. “I just wanted to make classic things that would be the cornerstones of people’s wardrobes and could solve a problem.” (Chung closed up shop on her namesake label in 2022.)

Considering how Chung has always erred on the side of “anti-trend,” it certainly makes one curious about how the reigning tastemaker styles her own space amidst a design landscape spiraling out of control with rapid (and vapid) -cores. AD spoke with the fashion designer from the comfort of her denim-covered dining table to find out what’s really been going on behind closed doors. Following a yearlong home renovation, Chung’s most valuable takeaway from her interior designer has been learning how a healthy “eye diet” can bring daily joy.

And in case anyone else was wondering, Chung is very keen to design furniture and other home decor products like denim tablecloths, gingham napkins with rodeo embroidery, and patchwork blinds made out of delicate fabrics. “I really want to try making my own wardrobe for my bedroom—and by trying I mean Google who can make wardrobes,” she adds. “It’s my toxic trait, saying and thinking I can do everything.” But in her famous last words: “Watch this space.”

Architectural Digest: What city do you live in?

Alexa Chung: London. I live in Paris energetically [and] emotionally, but [my] actual, physical realm [is] London.

How would you describe the aesthetic of your own home?

I really wanted my house to be like a sort of handsome Belgian architect who also really liked very childish art and scraps of textiles.

As a fashion icon, how does your taste translate within your interiors?

I didn’t use to have any interiors taste. I was very illiterate in that because it just never really mattered to me, but also it was about the luxury of being able to afford it, and I’d always prioritized clothes. As you know, [it’s] crazy to try and get a nice apartment in New York anyway, and I lived for years without any natural daylight. I tried to make things look cute, but interior design just wasn’t really on my radar. It’s definitely something you grow into being interested in as you progress through life, want to settle down, and nest.

I’ve now found there are similarities between how I dress and how I’ve renovated my house which I did over the past year or so. I wanted to have a classic base and not be too showy. I wanted it to be handsome and dignified, but it needs to be modular so that I can move things in and out that are not necessarily as expensive. So [you] definitely spend a lot of money on floors and a fireplace, but then [you’re] more amenable to wallpapers and tablecloths changing—the great tablecloth trick is my current favorite, this one is a piece of denim that I found in Fairfax in LA. It’s exactly the same as getting dressed. I invest in the classic things that are going to keep for decades, maybe that’s a nice bag or a nice shoe, so [with interiors it could be] nice paneling or a great ceiling light, and then [layering] the more frivolous items like cushions.

Is there anything else you want to change about your house or are you feeling in a good place post-renovation?

I wanted it to be anti-Instagram, which is hard, but I was more interested in approaching it like imagining things and then trying to find them [on Google]. It’s a bit like how I am with clothes, which is why I end up trying to make my own clothes, but I really wanted it to be not like many other things. I’m very turned off by what’s expected, and I also don’t like to have the same thing as anyone else; whereas other people find that more comforting, I’m like, “I just can’t,” which is unfortunate because I chose a really intense wallpaper that looks like tapestry and then Soho House opened their new house in London and they’ve got the same wallpaper as me. It’s inevitable, I guess, there’s only so many things on the planet. So if I was to change something.… I can’t change that wallpaper because it costs too much money, so I’ve got it now, but if I could I would.

What’s one kitchen item that you use every single day?

It’s not a cheese grater, it’s like a slicer. You basically have a block of cheese—it’s an Emmenthal, it’s a Gouda, it’s a Comté—and you can slice it off [and have] that with a boiled egg. It’s quite Swedish. I think I actually bought it in the airport in Sweden. So I’d say that’s my handy tool. I also eat handfuls of garlic per day. [I’m] ramping up some really nice breath, so I’d say garlic crusher probably because I try and put it in every single thing. I put it in salad dressings a lot.

What’s your favorite gadget or appliance?

I don’t have any, I’m very un-gadgety. I’m a prehistoric Victorian person, I have no gadgets. I don’t have a printer which is a nightmare. It’s so annoying, I don’t know why I don’t have one—I don’t think they’re that expensive, but in my mind it’s such a luxury. I was given this Sonos in Austin at SXSW probably when they launched it in 2013, and I was like, “What is this weird box?” Anyway, that’s about as gadgety as it gets, but I would like a record player.

Do you have an item in your home with extra sentimental value that you brought back from a trip?

We only just moved back in, so I feel like I haven’t got anything sentimental…. I have a picture of me and my boyfriend [Tom Sturridge] kissing under a waterfall in Iceland from my birthday a few years ago which is very nice, but I need to get it framed. My sentimental values are in my boxes and boxes of photographs; I store them all in the loft because they take up so much room. I’m very happy that, even though it was a full social media explosion in my 20s, I always carried around a hipster level 35mm camera with me, which was really annoying probably, but I’m like, “Well, who’s laughing now because I’ve got proper images still?”

Which room in your house is your favorite and why?

My favorite will be my dressing room, but I’m still doing a clear out because I’m very fortunate and [have] collaborated a lot, which means that I inherit quite a lot of those collections, so the volume of clothes I have is really crazy—every iteration of every jumper I’ve ever made I’ve kept. But it demands so much storage, so I’m trying to slowly declutter and actually live in reality. Whenever I go and stay in a hotel I love it because you just hang up what you’ve got in your suitcase and then suddenly you love your clothes again. I swear it’s because it looks like you’re in The Row or something.

Do you have a bedtime ritual?

I actually have been reading in bed because I am such a phone girl and have become addicted to The Guardian website and it’s just not good for me. [Laughs.] I’ve been reading The Remains of the Day because it’s so calming and soothing. But no, I have no routine whatsoever. I’m just so not a pampering person, I would always rather sit on a floor than a sofa. I’m a very odd fish. When you think of me, don’t think of me luxuriating in a cashmere gown in my Uggs and eating snacks…. I do like having a bath, though, I will say. I got a really nice marble bit on my bath with a lion head because I was trying to make it like the Ritz in Paris, which is really gaudy, but that’s okay because the rest of the house is very plain.

Putting you in the hot seat here…. Everyone knows that you love denim, but how do you feel about denim furniture? Would you ever own a jouch?

I’m into it. I’m really into it. It might be nice if you had a window seat or some seat cushions. Maybe it’s nice to do a mid-weight denim that will fade over time, but then put a really smart piping on it in a cardinal red velvet so it sort of has a more luxurious counterpoint. That’s if you’re trying to bulletproof it against the inevitable sort of Urban Outfitters–ification of it, that’s the trend.

I think you need to make a denim furniture line.

I’d love to do that. Okay, great. Fine!

I love the corduroy and suede pieces in this collection. You obviously incorporate them into your wardrobe already, but would you ever consider doing the same for your home decor?

It’s actually really funny that you say that [because] I was renovating at the same time as working on the Madewell collaboration. I was looking at a ’70s gym kit in a really beautiful olive brown suede and [wondering if] I could recreate that vibe on a stool. I was also looking at black or navy corduroy to cover a sofa or a footstool, and maybe because I’ve been looking at all those fabrics so much that did play into the [collection].

It’s interesting because your design references are from the ’60s and ’70s, and that period has been really inspirational for interiors as well. I wonder why we’re all craving that era right now….

I think because, and I’m guilty of it too because I’m literally here with white walls, but there is an Instagram aesthetic, or a popular one at the moment at least in England, of completely white walls and then one brutalist chair and then an orchid…. It’s such a palate cleanse and a pause, I wonder if everyone wants to get into mayhem again. I really like what Retrouvius did with Bella Freud’s house. He had an amazing color, it was a green carpet, and then a secret door with pictures on it which I really loved. I also really liked David Hicks and all of those amazing images of his apartments from the ’60s, they look incredible, like using mirrors really cleverly in small spaces. In my bathroom I’ve done the same thing, where I’ve got a mirror because it’s a tiny cloakroom and then put a picture frame over it because I like that it reflects all the light.

The Western shirts are giving major urban cowboy vibes; I have this design theory that we’re shifting away from modern farmhouse in favor of a ranch house renaissance. Do you have any thoughts on that?

It’s like when you see pictures of all the famous girls and realize that all their parents have ranches in Montana…. I didn’t get the memo that everyone was from ranches or something. I don’t understand, why is everyone in that boat? Is it a tax break? What’s going on? I do think with interiors and homes there still is really distinct separation between countries and I can’t really speak to the ranch aesthetic much because I don’t have an education in it. It’s not in my bones in the way that I understand how to flush the toilet and really get it to work in England, which isn’t something you guys have to worry about. In fashion there is less separation because the internet flattened trends and it was cultural imperialism, global mishmash.

But I did find myself the other day looking up 1950s rodeo quilting. Maybe I’m accidentally in the zone. I don’t have an eight-year-old boy child, but I was like maybe I want a rodeo blanket? I do love, je t’aime, Americana. I really want to make perfect cowboy boots because, weirdly, whenever you can find a pair they always suck. I was scoring a pair of turquoise ones just yesterday like “Manifest the cowboy boot.” I sadly am not at the career stage yet to get my ranch, but when I’m ready then we’ll go to town.

It was such an iconic moment, which made me wonder, Do you care about coffee table or bookshelf styling at all?

My bookshelves are insane because my boyfriend is a voracious reader, but he also buys four [books] a week, which is crazy. So our bookshelves are mad and I’m not allowed to touch them…. In his mind it makes sense, it really warms the room. My goal is to try and read all of them to play catch up so that I can transpose his brain onto mine. But what it’s done is it’s recontextualized my embarrassing coffee table books. Now when I see my two copies of Joni Mitchell’s [Morning Glory on the Vine: Early Songs and Drawings] I’m like, “Oh….” [Laughs.] It’s showing up the caliber of coffee table books that I have. No shade on Joni Mitchell, I love her, but I have it twice and there’s no need for that. I have A Little Life twice as well, which nobody needs.