Alexa - Amy Grier

“I’D RATHER
BE TOLD
I WAS FUNNY
THAN THAT
I L OOKED NICE”
Fashion darling, party girl and TV
success, Alexa Chung tells Stylist
what gets her out of bed in the morning
WO R D S : A M Y G R I E R
P H OTO G R A P H Y: GU Y A R O C H
ALEXA
ALEXA CHUNG
DRESS, SEA NY
(OXYGENBOUTIQUE.COM);
RINGS, ALEXA’S OWN;
BAG, YVONNE YVONNE
(YVONNEYVONNE.COM)
ALEXA CHUNG
are proud of it. If they go to the gym,
they tell you about it, if they’ve had a
manicure, they tell you about it whereas
we’re more embarrassed. There’s an
“Oh, it’s nothing” attitude over here
which I’m more comfortable with.
I
A recent survey revealed many men
use their girlfriend’s moisturiser…
Have you ever dated a metrosexual?
I don’t make much effort with my
appearance so it would disturb me if
my boyfriend did. Vain men are gross!
But you always look so polished…
That’s because I’ve got lovely people
who do my hair and make-up for me.
If I’m on my own I’ll deliberate over my
clothes but never my beauty regime.
DRESS, BURBERRY PRORSUM
(020-7806 1303);
COLLAR, CARVEN
(START-LONDON.COM);
HAIR CLIP, ALEXA’S OWN;
RING, ETRO (020-7495 5767)
What do you see when you look
in the mirror?
Usually someone with their make-up
still on from the night before who
needs to brush their hair! Recently
I’ve been getting paranoid about
wrinkles. I haven’t actually found any
yet but every time I look in the mirror
I search my forehead for the first signs.
Who are your beauty idols?
Julie Christie, Brigitte Bardot, anyone
from that Sixties era. I love the whole
short bob, big eyes, pale lips thing. It
makes me want to crop my hair again.
Is it easy to fixate on your looks when
you do the kind of job you do?
It would be, but modelling for so long
taught me how important your brain
I lose, at least I lose at a real sport. I’m
really not very good at relaxing though.
I’m very hyperactive and like being
on the go. Even when I’m sitting on the
sofa I doodle continuously – drawing
skulls or big heads on the corners of
scripts or sketching my hands.
Sounds very artistic…
Yeah, I guess so. I’m really into art
and photography. Like Lucian Freud’s
paintings and Juergen Teller’s photos.
I’m always snapping away with my
camera when I get the chance.
What’s the one thing about yourself
which really frustrates you?
I’m a perfectionist, particularly when
it comes to aesthetics. I just got back
from the Isle of Wight and I drove
“Modelling for so long taught me
how important your brain and
personality are to being happy”
and personality are to being happy.
I was happier the minute I started
doing TV work rather than modelling
because I suddenly had an outlet for
my opinions. I’d rather be told I was
funny or clever than that I looked nice.
You’ve pretty much stayed the same
shape since you started out, is it
something you work on?
Nope, I’m rubbish. I used to swim every
day when I was modelling but now
I can’t even get myself to Pilates class.
So how do you wind down?
Whiskey and apple juice. Or bowling.
Do you bowl with the bumpers up?
Always no bumpers, even if that means
everyone mad trying to sort out the
strip lighting in our accommodation:
turning on lamps, opening curtains.
It really stressed me out!
What role do you play in your
friendship circle?
I was a place to stay in New York… We
always had people traipsing in and out
of our apartment, it was a continual
crash pad for friends and family and
I liked playing hostess.
Did you notice differences between
British and American women?
The main difference is that English
women tend to be a bit embarrassed
by the effort they put into the way
they look. Whereas American women
F O R A L E X A’ S S T Y L E G A L L E R Y, L O G O N T O W W W. S T Y L I S T. C O . U K
X W W W ST Y L I ST C OU K
Which beauty products couldn’t you
live without?
Décleor oils, pawpaw lipbalm, my Mac
blusher and some mascara. I pack light.
How do you cope after a heavy night?
A smoothie made from banana, soya
milk and honey. That and a long walk.
Staying in bed is bad. Before you know
it, it’s 2pm and you’ve not moved all day.
Which do you prefer, interviewing
or being interviewed?
Interviewing obviously, because you’ve
got the bloody power! I’ve learned not
to be scared of silence though, even on
live TV. It makes them look more of a
tit than you. You’ve asked the question,
it’s them who haven’t answered it.
What was it like moving to New York
and starting from scratch with
a different audience?
I’d always wanted to live in New York,
so that made things easier but partly
I wanted a new challenge. I wanted to
get out of my comfort zone and throw
myself into the unknown.
What’s the best piece of advice
you’ve ever been given?
Always take the easiest way out.
Phillip Lim told me that when we were
at a ball in New York. Take the path
of least resistance. It saves a lot of fuss.
How do you feel about the amount
of success you’ve had so far?
I think that modelling for six years
straight out of school taught me how
to negotiate the industry, how much
money is worth, how to look after
myself and then I had to re-learn
it all for TV. Now I finally feel like
I can explore things like writing and
photography or whatever I fancy next.
Do you think that makes you a role
model for other women?
I think I am and it’s really nice. I hope I’m
a good one but I still don’t know
how to answer that question.
Alexa is the face of Lacoste Joy of Pink,
available nationwide at £24 for 30ml
PHOTO GRAP HYGUY AROCH/JEDROOTSYNDICAT IO N
t’s always tricky to
interview someone
who’s more used to
asking questions than
answering them. Stylist
has no sooner got comfortable on the
purple sofa at Mayfair’s Sanderson
Hotel when Alexa Chung, 26-year-old
presenter, model and style icon, asks
to switch places: “I like to be able to
see out the window,” she says, by way
of explanation. The ball firmly in her
court, Alexa turns on the charm,
complimenting me on my neon orange
nail polish. It’s a change of tack which
works very effectively.
Although she’s recently moved back
to London, when we spoke Alexa was
still living in New York, with her
boyfriend, Arctic Monkeys front man
Alex Turner. She was writing for vogue.
com and presenting It’s On With Alexa
Chung on MTV Live from Times
Square. The show aired for six months
to mixed reviews and it seems, despite
impressing the fashion crowd, being
voted Vogue’s best-dressed woman
and having a Mulberry handbag named
after her, the Americans didn’t get her
irreverent interview style, honed over
the years at Popworld. “Even now,
interviewing A-listers seems surreal to
me,” she says. “I’d wake up in my flat
with my mates still asleep on the sofa,
then later that day I’d be saying things
like: ‘Ladies and gentlemen… Cameron
Diaz.’ It took a lot of getting used to.”
She’s now back in Britain presenting
the daily music show, Gonzo, on MTV.
The fact that, despite Alexa’s
meteoric rise to fame, she’s still
impressed by celebrity shows that
Chung still has that girl-next-door
humility that first endeared her to UK
audiences five years ago. However,
a conversation with her is a bit like
playing a game of grandma’s footsteps:
as soon as you get somewhere
interesting you have to stop and take
a few steps back. Presumably it’s her
way of dealing with celebrity – every
time she comes close to revealing
anything interesting, she catches
herself. Alexa tells me she’s been
bowling the night before and is
“massively competitive” but won’t tell
me much more. She says she’s just got
back from the Isle of Wight festival but
won’t say who with, what her highlights
were and – perhaps understandably –
is very cagey about her life with Turner.
Luckily, it’s not him we’re here to
discuss today. Dressed in an A-line
Stella McCartney skirt, Lacoste cream
shirt and black patent Westwood ballet
pumps, Chung holds forth on health,
beauty and well-being, as is required
by her role as new face of Lacoste: Joy
of Pink fragrance. We already know she
appreciates a neon-orange manicure,
what but else does she favour?