Fashion Neurosis with Alexa Chung

Summary

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Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud: Alexa Chung

Date: November 5, 2025
Host: Bella Freud
Guest: Alexa Chung

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Overview

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, renowned fashion designer Bella Freud welcomes Alexa Chung—presenter, model, designer, writer, and style icon—to delve into the intimate links between fashion, identity, creativity, and the complexities of self-presentation. Through candid conversation, they explore Alexa's relationship with style, femininity, public image, self-confidence, nostalgia, and creativity, offering a compelling look into the emotional depths beneath the surface of personal style.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What We Wear and Why: Alexa on Her Outfit Choices

• Miu Miu & ‘Cosplaying’ Adulthood
  • Alexa arrives dressed in Miu Miu, highlighting her admiration for Mrs. Prada. She discusses the joy of dressing for the image rather than pure comfort, describing the outfit's playful tension between "perverse" leather and joyful colors.
  • "I kind of dressed for the image more than the feeling, I think." — Alexa Chung [01:32]
• Transitioning to a “Sexy” Look
  • Recently, Alexa has leaned into sexier dressing, amusing herself by playing with expectations: "It's sort of funny to dress in a more kind of kinky way... I'm more associated with like dungarees and smock tops and a slightly more sexless, tomboyish vibe." [02:13]

2. Identity & Self-Consciousness: Internal vs. External Perceptions

• Introvert/Extrovert Oscillation
  • Despite being the focus of public obsession, Alexa sees herself as shy and easily embarrassed, using clothes as a shield and confidence-booster:
    • "Clothes, definitely I would utilize to bolster my self-confidence and to make sure I felt the right way in the right environment." [05:04]
• Tomboyism & Beauty’s Double-Edged Sword
  • She reflects on intentionally ‘dialing down’ her beauty to be taken more seriously, feeling that beauty can overshadow intelligence:
    • "Refusing to lean into beauty or elegance or glamour was a way to get people to take me more seriously." [06:33]

3. Modeling, Body Image & Reclaiming Personal Style

• Clash Between Industry Standards and Self
  • Alexa discusses the objectification and emotional toll of modeling, and how being cast in “teen things” rather than sexy roles shaped her sense of self:
    • "Modeling really knocks [beauty] out of you quite quickly... There always were other girls booked for sexier things. I was always up for fun and joyful things." [07:47]
• Embracing Uniqueness Post-Modeling
  • She relished newfound freedom on TV: "My worst nightmare was following trends or looking like everyone else... I fucking love the 60s. They look so cool 'cause they're not trying too hard but also seductive and rock and roll." [08:51]

4. The Ritual of Dressing: Feelings, Characters, and Storytelling

• Mood-Driven Outfits and Problem Solving
  • Alexa assembles outfits in the shower, based on mood or necessity, occasionally “cosplaying” different versions of femininity.
    • "Some days I have more masculine days, and other days I have more gentle days... it's like Picnic at Hanging Rock plus 20 years." [11:31]
• Playfulness & Rule-Breaking
  • "To break the rules, you have to know them first—at least your own ones." — Alexa Chung [13:18]

5. Childhood, Difference & Apparel as Armor

• Uniforms & Identity in a Small Village
  • The need for sameness (uniforms) and difference (unique shoes, quirky bags) as a biracial child growing up in a rural setting:
    • "I didn't ever want the same shoes as anyone else… but I also wasn't afraid to be different because I already was." [14:57]

6. Body Confidence, Proportion, and Conceal/Reveal

• The “Magic” of Clothes
  • Alexa reveals how negative feedback as a young model evolved into a body-positive approach, playing with proportion to suit her own shape, resisting universal advice:
    • "My style comes from an understanding of proportion… I can't give anyone advice on how to get dressed because mine is only suited to me and my physicality." [20:06]
• Aging, Trends & The Changing Mask
  • The impact of time on confidence and expression, with references to “what the fuck eyes” and the mask slipping as one ages:
    • "Life comes at you… then you have this moment of realization about how unfair everything is and you just go, aha." [50:49]

7. The ‘It Girl’ Label: Playfulness and the Limits of Fame

• On Being Seen as ‘It’
  • Alexa’s self-deprecating reason for titling her book It, and the mystique and hazards of the ‘it girl’ construct:
    • "It seems to kind of demean them… it's a way to explain someone that exists beyond the parameters of what we know about at a particular moment in time." [22:47]
• The Double-Edged Sword of Visibility
  • The struggle and humor in deflecting with wit, and using humor to keep people at a distance:
    • "I can really prattle on… but for sure, yeah. I think Tom would say the person he knows isn't necessarily the one that other people consume." [24:38]

8. Creative Evolution: Writing, Acting, and Photography

• Writing Influences & Process
  • Alexa admires Joan Didion, Nora Ephron, Fran Lebowitz; she loves wordplay, self-editing, and the idea of hiding “Easter eggs” in her writing:
    • "My writing is... so wordy... always trying to seed it with in-jokes or signals or something." [34:41]
• Performance and Deflection
  • Insights on acting aspirations, natural comedic timing, and deflecting deeper emotions with humor.

9. Fashion Inspirations & Working with Icons

• Mrs. Prada (Miuccia Prada) as Muse
  • Alexa extols Prada’s cinematic, ironic approach to femininity, rejecting the male gaze on her own terms:
    • "She understands the male gaze and refuses to interact with it, or sometimes courts it—but on her own terms." [47:12]
  • Entertaining anecdote: Mrs. Prada caught watching Formula One backstage during a show [49:16].
• Jane Birkin and the Muse Archetype
  • Alexa’s interview with Birkin and musings on muse-hood:
    • "He [Gainsbourg] caught on fire when he met her... she's the key to his magnetism." [39:35]

10. Compliments, Confidence, and Being Seen

• On Receiving Compliments
  • Alexa discusses rarely being told she dresses well, treasuring instead comments on her intelligence, wit, or being "seen":
    • "If someone said I was funny or clever, I'd love that... a good compliment is being seen." [58:12]
• Affirmation in Relationships
  • Praises her boyfriend's faith in her instincts as the ultimate compliment [58:38].

11. Photography: Control, Intimacy & Representation

• Alexa Behind the Camera
  • Shooting for 10 Magazine and the joy/pressure of making subjects feel seen and beautiful:
    • "I wanted them to recognize themselves in the image and be seen. It's that thing again." [67:04]
• Karl Lagerfeld Photo Shoot Wisdom
  • On Lagerfeld’s approach: "Is it you? Do you look like you? Then this is it." [69:26]

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Notable Quotes

• On Fashion & Humor:
  "Things should be playful, like clothes. I think fashion can seem intimidating, but I love individual items... fashion as storytelling and a passion for individual items." — Alexa Chung [13:48]

• On Aging & Perception:
  "Now I have all this experience and my resting face is actually so much more traumatized by life... my eyes in these images just look so woe begone... now if I'm invited to walk on a catwalk ever, I think I would remember to think thoughts in my head and not go blank." — Alexa Chung [49:35]

• On Being Seen:
  "A good compliment is being seen, isn't it? So someone who sees that and then tells you—and it's kind of thrilling." — Bella Freud [58:58]

• On Creative Legacy:
  "I think so much of my life is public, not in a famous way but in a, like, a lot of my work is front of house, as it were. That it's also nice to have something that's just for me as well." — Alexa Chung [66:20]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:32] — Alexa describes her Miu Miu look and dressing for the image.
• [02:13] — On leaning into glamour and playing with a 'sexy' image.
• [05:04] — Clothes as self-confidence booster.
• [06:33] — On tempering beauty to highlight intellect.
• [08:51] — Rejecting trends and forging a unique style post-modeling.
• [13:18] — Rule-breaking in fashion; playful cosplaying of womanhood.
• [20:06] — Alexa on personal body confidence and the magic of clothing.
• [22:47] — Discussing the 'it girl' label.
• [24:38] — Humor as emotional deflection, differences between public and private self.
• [34:41] — Alexa on writing style and literary influences.
• [39:35] — Reflections on Jane Birkin's magnetism and muse status.
• [47:12] — On the “oracle” that is Miuccia Prada.
• [49:16] — Anecdote: Mrs. Prada watches Formula 1 backstage.
• [58:12/58:58] — Best compliments and the power of ‘being seen’.
• [67:04] — The intimacy and ethos of Alexa’s photography.
• [69:26] — Karl Lagerfeld's lesson: photography as recognition.

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Memorable Moments

• Alexa’s accidental ‘cosplay’ of adulthood through fashion, using humor and self-deprecation as armor.
• The powerful, repeated theme of being ‘seen’—in relationships, compliments, photography, and style.
• Bella and Alexa’s mutual appreciation of unique, quirky dressing, and their reminiscences about fashion icons, such as Jane Birkin and Miuccia Prada.
• Alexa’s candidness about public vs. private self, showing the double-edged sword of charisma and the expectations of “It-ness.”
• The behind-the-scenes anecdote of Mrs. Prada watching Formula 1 during a runway show, exemplifying the irreverence and individuality that both Alexa and Bella admire.

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Concluding Reflections

This episode captures a deeply thoughtful, honest, and often witty exploration of what it means to express oneself through clothes in a world obsessed with image and originality. Alexa Chung reveals style as both a tool for self-discovery and self-defense, weaving together past and present influences, vulnerabilities, humor, and creativity to exemplify the complex humanity behind a fashion icon.

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Transcript

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[Interviewer]

Hi, come in. Welcome to Fashion Neurosis. Alexa Chung.

[Alexa Chung]

Thanks for having me.

[Interviewer]

Can you tell me what you're wearing today and why you chose these particular clothes?

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, I'm wearing an outfit from Miu Miu. Mrs. Prada is one of my favorite designers and I love this particular look because it feels like it treads the balance between something almost perverse in the leather and the cutout keyhole. Then the colors are so joyful and fun and it sort of, I was thinking about the framing of this show actually, and I was like, how do I want to look in that picture? And so I kind of dressed for the image more than the feeling, I think.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. And how about the shoes?

[Alexa Chung]

The shoes are like a patent leather high heel. And lately, or at least in the last couple of years, I've kind of, I've wanted to dress more sexy. So now I'm actively trying to look more womanly, more alluring. Something, as I say, it's sort of, to me, it's now funny to dress in a more kind of kinky way because I think I'm more associated with like dungarees and smock tops and a slightly more sexless, tomboyish vibe. So it's been amusing to me to like lean into a more grown up.

[Interviewer]

Seductive thing because the tight's very kind of classic sexual woman.

[Alexa Chung]

The sheer, the smoky leg.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, it's very good. Very Catherine Deneuve. It's interesting that Thing of getting, you know, getting more into your sexual side, the way you dress, getting old. Especially being quite tomboyish because I always, I mean, I never really dressed very sexily, but tomboy for me is very sexy.

[Alexa Chung]

I agree. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And you're a presenter, a model, a designer, a writer and a photographer.

[Alexa Chung]

Every. Don't know about photographer, but yeah, I enjoy it. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And you're the focus of many people's obsession and I wondered how your introvert extrovert barometer is.

[Alexa Chung]

That's interesting because I do think I'm quite shy sometimes. And like, even this morning I went to my local deli and I'm friends with the guy that runs it and as he was talking, I tried to lean on a tree and then I missed the tree and sort of like cocked that up and then I went bright red and I was like, oh, my God. Still embarrassable.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

But then presenting, because I started doing that so young, it was really important. I think good broadcast journalists are completely themselves and that's why presenting an on camera work is quite intimidating sometimes for actors who are used to a script or being completely un themselves, I think the camera doesn't lie at all. So if you aren't entirely comfortable, it can just totally tell. She says, feeling slightly uncomfortable now. But yeah, presenting, though meant that I became the most confident person in that aspect. But it did sort of start taking its toll. Definitely there was adrenaline that was suppressed on those more live TV moments because I hosted like a talk show for a while in the US and that's so demanding and, yeah, quite draining, you know, dealing with other people's energy and you don't want to get it wrong and you need to kind of draw out the best, most entertaining stories. So you're kind of always there, ready to catch the ball and kind of make it better. But clothes, definitely I would utilize to like bolster my self confidence and to make sure I felt the right way in the right environment. And my style evolved out of that. I think because my first jobs on tv, I really needed to feel super comfortable and extra myself. And so I refused almost to dress up for the camera. And so I would wear jeans or jumpers or Mary Jane shoes and Peter Pan collars and things that I would naturally have on on a Saturday morning anyway. Rather than like dressing up for tv.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah. Instead of being more formal just because you're being on tv. And Zadie Smith said people here treat beauty as antithetical to intelligence. And I wonder, do you temper with what is clearly your Intellectual agility and your cleverness.

[Alexa Chung]

I think that. I think I started out as a model, and I still kind of hold onto that as the baseline in a way, like, in terms of something to kick against. Because even though, obviously I've got older and that's no longer as relevant, I was desperate for people to focus on what I was saying. And I was always trying to get the best joke in or whatever. And I feel like beauty can interrupt that. And so it became something to play with, for sure. But that more tomboyish style or kind of not doing yourself down, but refusing to amp up my looks and refusing to lean into beauty or elegance or glamour was a kind of way to get people to take me more seriously, I guess.

[Interviewer]

Do you think people were threatened by your intelligence and that they wanted you to just be beautiful and that. That's quite kind of. I mean, it's quite sort of challenging when what, you know, is a good feature that you have that has to be sort of contained in a way.

[Alexa Chung]

But. But, yeah, I don't think I ever thought of myself as beautiful because, for sure, modeling really knocks out of you quite quickly just in terms of, you know, you have a literal paycheck at the end of the month, which is a way to gauge how gorgeous you were. That, you know, it's kind of. And there always were other girls that I was modeling with who would book jobs for underwear or would book jobs for kind of, yeah, sexier things. And I was always booked for the sort of teen things. And I think that's also to do with having a personality and wanting to. That was people pleasy and wanting to have fun and joyful things. So I would be the one that was up for, you know, running in the lake or jumping on the trampoline. I was quite easy to work with in that way. But I wasn't getting the, like, sexier, demure, seductive roles. So I kind of came to associate myself with the other thing.

[Interviewer]

Also, fashion and modeling is so not about beauty half the time. It's about a look that someone wants.

[Alexa Chung]

But I think what was important as well to me was after years of wearing whatever someone else's vision of me was, when I got a job on TV and could dress however I wanted, I relished it. It was such a. There was such freedom in that. And I for sure didn't want to look like anyone else. I was like, my worst nightmare was following trends or looking like everyone. And at the time that I started on a show called Pop World, the kind of general trend was a lot more. It was like Auve Leisure bandage dresses and kind of Rona Marie. And not to. Not to say that's not a great look, but I didn't see myself in that. And I. I sort of. The people that I was romanticizing and wanted to be like were like Gene Shrimpton or Julie Christie or. I had this book called Five Girls by Sam Haskins. And I just thought. I thought, God, I fucking love the 60s. I just really missed the boat. And I want to. You know, I want to be Anita Pallenberg, and I want to be Jane Birkin, and I want to. You know, I just loved Patti Smith as well. Like denim and flat shoes and this kind of. Yeah, I just thought everyone. In the early 2000s, I just didn't get the look. I just didn't understand it. Whereas as soon as I happened upon all these images of the past, I was like, fuck, yeah, that's it. They look so fucking cool. Cause they're not trying too hard, but they also look really seductive and rock and roll and messy. And. I don't know, it just seemed cooler.

[Interviewer]

Because you're a brilliant dresser and wearer of clothes. And when you get ready for a look, do you think about a character or a look?

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, sometimes A character, definitely. For the. More. For more, like, fashion events, then I'll lean into a character. But day to day, it comes from how I want to feel. And I always assemble my outfit in the shower. While I'm in the shower, I think about how I want to feel that day or how. Or I think about how I am feeling that day. Because some days I have more masculine days, and other days I have more gentle days. Those are rarer, I'd say.

[Interviewer]

How come?

[Alexa Chung]

I don't know. I always kind of like, the other day I went to an event and I thought, oh, I actually feel quite soft today and gentle. And I want to wear a kind of prairie dress and something really pretty and white. And I want to look like I'm in Picnic @ hanging rock plus 20 years.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

But I, you know, I had to wear trainers because that was the job. So I wore a suit in the end because I was trying to figure out the proportions of these trainers and how to make them look good. So sometimes it's problem solving and the job and the type of work that I do might mean I'm kind of obligated to wear a particular item. And then I'm building something around that to facilitate it. Whereas other times, you know, you might buy an item and then get really excited about putting it on. And so retrofit something to make that work. I'll be like, oh, my God, I really want to wear those shoes. So I'll.

[Interviewer]

So you don't start your outfit always with something like, I start with a.

[Alexa Chung]

Shoe.

[Interviewer]

Sort of that same thing of how do I want to feel? I. I want to feel courageous. And a shoe, a heel will help me have this kind of great line, internal line that makes me feel kind of intrepid.

[Alexa Chung]

But I think that's why I like Mrs. Prada's designs, because it's that there's a beauty and there's a line to it, but there's also playing with assumptions. And I actually really like outfits that I find funny to myself, if you see what I mean. Like, I'm like, okay, they're gonna expect me to be like this, so instead, I'm gonna dress against type, because that's amusing to me.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

But to break the rules, you have to know them first.

[Interviewer]

So at least your own ones.

[Alexa Chung]

At least your own one. Yeah. And so I think that's why it's funny to do cosplay as, like, a sexy adult woman, because in my mind, it is cosplayed. So I'm like, that's not necessarily how I feel, but it's like a wink.

[Interviewer]

Also, it's a good way to experiment, just sort of casually, because you have more kind of playful agency within that.

[Alexa Chung]

Exactly. And I think things should be playful, like clothes. I think fashion can seem intimidating to people outside of it, in a way, even going into a shop just to look at things or whatever it might be. But actually, clothes are what I like. I don't necessarily love fashion. I love actual individual items. And I'll become obsessed with, like, an Aran knit, and I'll be like, oh, I've got to try and find the perfect Aran knit. Or. I mean, I spent a lifetime trying to find the perfect jeans still. But, yeah, I think it's. I think of fashion as just, like, storytelling and a passion for individual items.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

And do you remember that? Doesn't really make any sense, but.

[Interviewer]

No, no, it does. It does, because it's. I was going to ask you, do you remember the first time you found a piece of clothing that made you feel different? How old were you? Because it's part of this identity, really, isn't it? This thing represents what I could be somehow.

[Alexa Chung]

I think I always loved uniforms, actually. Weirdly. Actually, I think it's the other way around. I think, because I'm from a Small village and that had its own look, like everyone was in barbers and whatever. And, you know, my dad was Chinese and my mum's English. And already from the get go, we were different and I was different. And I definitely didn't see anyone on TV or in any kind of pop culture that I was consuming. I didn't see anyone that was like me at all. And it wasn't that I was uncomfortable with that at all. It was more that I was already different enough. So I think I really liked uniforms. I loved my school uniforms so much and I loved my ballet outfits and horse riding outfits and I loved all the gear, you know. But then I also wasn't afraid to be different because I already was. So at school, I didn't ever want the same shoes as anyone else, which is obviously quite tricky because there's only so many options when it came to school. So as soon as someone else had the same trainers for pee or something, I'd be like, oh, no, I need. I have to get different ones. My mum would be like, no, you literally just got these. And I had a record bag, I remember, which I thought was really cool that my brother had given me, and it had like this grass on it that I thought was like a plant or something, nature. And it was cannabis. And so everyone, all the older kids at school when I was 11 and rocked up with that, they were like, hey, cool bag, man. And I was like, thanks. But I thought it was like a.

[Interviewer]

That's so sweet. Yeah. Do you ever have any good fashion dreams?

[Alexa Chung]

I don't really have any good fashion dreams. No, I can't.

[Interviewer]

You were a dreamer. You. You. You mentioned you had quite a lot of vivid dreams.

[Alexa Chung]

Oh, yeah, I do. I do have vivid dreams. I mean, I've had really intense dreams before. I don't want to sidetrack this other anecdote, but I dreamt about the tsunami for years, really? And then I was in it and it was where my dream completely met my reality and it was really freaking.

[Adobe Express Advertiser]

You were there?

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, I was in Thailand.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Interviewer]

God, I didn't know.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, I was, I think, either 19 or 20. I was really young and I was on holiday with my boyfriend for Christmas and then, yeah, the sea kept going out every day, like further out. And I was like, so weird because the sea in the picture, when I booked this place or I chose it was right up against our. Kind of the stilts of our cabin, but now it keeps being further away and we just didn't know that was like a warning sign. Basically. But the years preceding that, I'd always had this dream that I was still on the edge of a cliff type thing or a hill and I was with a man with a beard. And I looked back at something and it was a huge wave coming in. And then I looked back at this man. And then I just woke up. And when the tsunami happened, I ran away and so did my boyfriend. We just ran to safety and then we found each other at the top of this hill. And I looked at him and then I looked at the sea and it was coming in, and then looked back at him and then I just went. And I just started screaming.

[Interviewer]

God.

[Alexa Chung]

I was like, fuck. This is the moment I wake up.

[Interviewer]

So terrifying, Horrific.

[Alexa Chung]

This is therapy.

[Interviewer]

You've described having complicated feelings about your body when you were modeling. And do you think. Do you think hang ups about our bodies are catalysts for how we reveal or hide us our qualities?

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, I mean, I think, I think it was less. It was less straightforward than kind of, you know, obviously modeling. In the olden days, you just simply had to be rail thin and really tall, whereas now it's amazing. There's so much more diversity in that way. And there is more of an emphasis on personality as well.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

But for me, it was about like, you know, I'd go for a job in Japan and they'd be like, oh, your hips are too big, or, you know, a beauty job and your ears are too big. Whatever. It was always. The feedback was always so clunky and like, horrible. Um, whereas now I'm like, really proud of myself. I definitely. That's come with age.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

And I, Yeah, I. If anything, my boyfriend would say, I sort of walk around being like, check me out.

[Interviewer]

It's great that. Cause I found that after I. After I had a baby, I thought, oh, my God, this body, it's fantastic. It produced that. It's really useful. And my obsession with what was wrong with it started to diminish.

[Alexa Chung]

But that's also the magic of clothes. And if you're talking about concealing and uncovering that tension is what makes getting dressed quite interesting. And I think a lot of my style and the clothes that I put together come from an understanding of proportion and the kind of way to flatter my particular shape. Which is why I find prescriptive requirements, like when people say, you know, give us advice on this or that in an interview or something, I can't give anyone advice on how to get dressed because mine is only suited to me and my physicality.

[Interviewer]

Yes. Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

And it also changes with trends, of course. Whereas before, I used to love the kind of Hedy Slimane, everything tight and tiny. Then, of course, fashion changed and everyone was exploring, like, larger silhouettes. And as someone with quite small shoulders, I really love the kind of oversized man coat thing. But again, it's always about playing with that tension between what's there and what's not.

[Interviewer]

I think that's a real talent. And you obviously have it because you do that so ingeniously. The way you play with your outfits, and they're so beautiful, you know, you're so good at it. And you're often described as an it girl. And it seems a very short word to describe how huge your repertoire is.

[Alexa Chung]

Repertoire is really funny. That's exactly right. Repertoire. Because it is like a hammy cabaret.

[Interviewer]

No, not at all. You have so much scope and you have a lot of accomplishments. And in your book, your writing, your musings and your poetry, which I really liked. It was really good. And your references are always very witty and surprising and wondered why you called it it.

[Alexa Chung]

I called it it sort of as a joke, because we didn't know what to call it. And we kept referring to it as it. And then I was like, let's just call it it. Because then it's a play on words as well. Because I am was at the time sometimes called an it girl. Obviously, there's a Stephen King film called it as well, which is a shame.

[Interviewer]

Also, apparently, I read that the. Where the term came from in the twenties was to describe someone of surprising magnetic qualities or something. And I thought, yeah, that's cool. You definitely have that.

[Alexa Chung]

I do think it's interesting work as it. I always thought it girl, or when I think about it, girls that I admire, it's. Even though it seems to kind of demean them in a way. I think that's right. It's a conduit of. It's a way to explain someone that exists beyond the parameters of what we know about at that particular moment in time. And it's like they've surpassed this moment or they're bringing something in that's beyond from the beyond or something.

[Interviewer]

Because when I asked the writer friend of mine about you, and he said she has this intelligence and she sees things. She's like a spy. She's keeping something under wraps. And I wondered what you are keeping hidden that you'd like to reveal more of.

[Alexa Chung]

Oh, my God. I think once I did a shoot with Lucinda Chambers and I said, what are we gonna do for that shoot? And she said, you know what? I sort of see you as a. I'm gonna make you like Charlie Chaplin. I want you to be like a sort of sad clown. And I was like, that is it like. I think actually I love humor and wit and I really appreciate funny people, but I think sometimes people don't get. Is that humor only comes from also really understanding, like, sadness.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

And I'm actually like a super nostalgic person. I'm quite. I'm sort of quite serious. But I think people don't really get that bit necessarily.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

Because I was.

[Interviewer]

You know, you're very witty and funny and. And I wondered if you used humor to deflect people getting close to you.

[Alexa Chung]

Oh, 100%, a thousand percent. I can definitely put it in autopilot. That's just sort of necessarily gags, but, like, I can really, like, prattle on, but for sure. Yeah. I think Tom would say the person he knows isn't necessarily the one that.

[Interviewer]

Other people consume because it's like a self consciousness. I watch you talking or. And you're onto something and then you suddenly throw it away. And, I mean, it's always brilliantly done, but it's a sort of guardian against, like, not going to show you any more. Yeah, maybe.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And when you were 21, you starred in this brilliant TV short form called Shoot Me. And it's so funny. And this young girl coming to London, starting a modeling career and you're really good at acting and a natural comedian. And. Did you write. Did you write that as well?

[Alexa Chung]

No, I didn't. And. Oh, my God, I think you're the first person to have uncovered that, ever.

[Interviewer]

It's so. It's. I mean, it. It's genius. And also, it seems so modern, the.

[Alexa Chung]

Shortness of a fleabag vibe to it. Yeah, I did it. I auditioned for that and I had no say in how it was written. It was a kind of. I think, potentially, I don't want to, you know, besmirch the character of whoever put it together, but I think it might have been a bit of an opportunity for these dudes to hang out with models, but it was kind of skew the industry. And it was about a young girl who comes to London from the countryside who's tomboyish and becomes a model. And it had some quite funny cameos in it. Yasmin Le Bon's in it. And it was really fun to do. And I think at that time I was so. Again, it was so fun. I did a lot of TV adverts as well, around then. And I just absolutely loved any moment that wasn't modeling anything that was more freeing and playful and. Oh, yeah, actually after the tsunami thing, because I was quite unhappy at that time modeling, I didn't enjoy it at all. I decided to come home. I was like, God, life is so short. No one cares. No one's, like, keeping track of you or judging you or whatever. You can literally do whatever you want. And so I signed up for a lot of different classes. I did life drawing, and I did this Meisner class, which was like an acting technique. And that was really fun. But I remember the teacher being like, kind of what you're onto here, which is. He said, you're so interested in deflecting and entertaining the room rather than, you know, really sitting in the moment and being able to do it. And then sort of a month later, I got popworld and was on tv. But acting definitely appealed to me then. And it's increasingly something that I'm like, oh, I wonder how that would go. It's interesting.

[Interviewer]

I mean, watching those things really made me want to see what else you can do in this and serious roles, because you're. You're very convincing watching. I wanted to believe in everything that you were showing.

[Alexa Chung]

So, by the way, guys, this is the shittest show of all time, so definitely don't.

[Interviewer]

So good. It's witty. It's. It. You know, what you were saying about being, you know, people believing in your authenticity did work, you know, that was very. You wanted to believe, and that's the power of your acting talent, you know, because great actors, you just want to believe everything. And it's so. It's so enjoyable to witness that.

[Alexa Chung]

But when I was much younger, I ended up auditioning for. Because I was modeling, and I got asked to audition for this film called My Summer of Love that Pavel Pawlikovsky does.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yes. Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

And it was all improv. And I was like, in the last two, and it was with Natalie Press, and I had to do, like, a improvised scene with Paddy Considine about trying to seduce his vicar character or something. And I was really into it, and I didn't get it. And the person that got it was Emily Blunt. Oh, God. What happened to her?

[Interviewer]

Well, at least you were up against the best.

[Alexa Chung]

So funny.

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[Narrator/Reporter]

A few years ago, this researcher was trying to get people to relax by sitting in a silent room for 15 minutes. But they hated it.

[Alexa Chung]

People would rather listen to sounds of people vomiting nails on a chalkboard, et cetera, rather than simply sit in silence.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I got obsessed with this experiment, so I decided to make a whole series for Unexplainable about the way our brain processes sound. Like tinnitus.

[Alexa Chung]

It's like you're just trapped. There's nothing else to do. Like no way to escape it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Or what audio illusions show us about how hearing works.

[Alexa Chung]

It just seemed that the world had just turned upside down.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Or how astronomers are making new discoveries by listening to space.

[Alexa Chung]

I thought those sounds were bothersome.

[Interviewer]

And at that moment, everything transformed into beauty.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The sound barrier from Unexplainable, a four part series about the limits of hearing and the ways we can break through. Follow Unexplainable for new episodes every Monday and Wednesday.

[Interviewer]

And because you're good at outlandish skits as well, like Pop World.

[Alexa Chung]

And that's why I liked Pop World. It was a bit more like SNL or something. I was like, I'll do it, but I want to play characters.

[Interviewer]

Well, it reminded me of Monty Python and Connie Booth, who was so ravishing and seemingly oblivious of her charm. And did you look at those kind of skits for part of your inspiration at all?

[Alexa Chung]

I didn't, but I wish I had actually. It might have been really helpful. Oh, you got it. But I think in Britain we were quite lucky because growing up before the Internet and before YouTube and whatever, you know, TV was rich with all of these great kind of comedies in the uk and I used to watch Blackadder and Monty Python and all of the things. They were kind of like appointment viewing. So I think Brits had that as their like baseline DNA. It's in there, isn't it? But it was fun the early days of TV because I was invited to the writers room. So we would create a lot of those characters and bits.

[Interviewer]

Really. That was really in pop.

[Alexa Chung]

Amazing. Yeah, I loved it. I still haven't done a show that I love as much, to be honest.

[Interviewer]

It seems very ripe for re kind of configuring, you know.

[Alexa Chung]

Well, they do do like nowadays all TVs a bit like that. Because my great theory is that a lot of the British TV producers end up in la and that's what made all those talk shows there so fun, like Fallon and James Corden and Carpool Karaoke. And Hot Ones is based on Pop World. Not my Pop World, but Simon Amstel's really one.

[Interviewer]

But, yeah, I love Hot Ones.

[Alexa Chung]

It's great, isn't it? But they created it based on a thing that we used to do called the Big Ones, which was one of the segments.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you've been on Hot Ones.

[Alexa Chung]

I went on that. Yeah. I didn't know what it was. And it was so fun to do. I loved it. But he's an incredible journalist as well, because actually, the research is so amazing and he is so casual in his delivery. But what. What he gets out of people is amazing.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. It's endlessly interesting. It's. It's really good. I. I don't know how you cope, though, with the level of, you know, explosion of Chile. I can barely have, like, the tiniest thing. Yeah, you were really cool on your.

[Alexa Chung]

Well, I didn't really. I just didn't. I think there was the advantage of being quite naive to what was going on. But now, obviously, if I went on now, I'd understand, so I'd probably be more scared. But I didn't realize that we were going to take it up that far.

[Interviewer]

It's very clever because sort of deals with the mind and the body. So he's, like, coming at you from both places. Perfect.

[Alexa Chung]

It's really smart in that way. Yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Because you talked about your early fashion being inspired by band girls and.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Anita Pallenberg and Patti Smith. And I wondered which women have inspired your writing?

[Alexa Chung]

Well, Joan Didion I love, but she's a lot more serious. But, I mean, the way she tracks a scene is incredible and immerses herself and I guess those kind of postcards from LA are incredible. I think I'm a Nora Ephron girly. Or Fran Leibovitz. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

What about Patti Smith's writing?

[Alexa Chung]

I love Patti Smith, but. Yeah, I don't know.

[Interviewer]

I. Yeah, it's almost like, so good. It's impossible to imagine how to write, like.

[Alexa Chung]

Exactly. I think hers really comes from the heart and is much like her poetry and her music. It's kind of got a rhythm to it. My writing is. I have to delete so much because it's so wordy and it gets so, like, GCSE or A level, you know, it's quite like minimum. But I'll. I love a turn of phrase and I love wordplay. And I'm always trying to seed it with. In jokes or signals or something, you know, like, I love the idea that it's got code in it or Easter eggs.

[Interviewer]

I suppose the thing. The best bit of advice I ever got was get it down on the page and then of course, you can.

[Alexa Chung]

Shape it and that's amazing because I definitely don't. You mean, like, just try and get the outline.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, just write anything. Because that moment where you're hesitating, thinking, oh, that sounds a bit sort of bad, and. And then nothing. You don't write something. Like. There's this technique they use in schools. When my son was at primary school. Yeah. They had this thing called Fred Talk, which was writing as phonetically. So fruit, but it was to disinhibit them from getting it wrong. So fruit. I found a shopping list where it.

[Alexa Chung]

Was F R O O T. But that's so funny. That's how I write to Tom in texts quite often. So that's really funny because I just think it's really funny. Yeah, that's a good tip because I really do become obsessed with the turn of phrase or, like, whittling down something. I just like when something's. Yeah. I'll be drawn to an elegant phrase or something that just sounds so poetic and it becomes too flowery and it's like, really annoying or. Whereas some of my favorite writers. And I'm obsessed with the New Yorker and I loved your profile in the New Yorker as well. And I read it all the time and I just am so impressed when someone is really concise.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

They had this article once and it was about the building or the refurbing an organ. I can't remember the best sentences in it now, but I was, like, underlining them, like, wow, I love this article. There was one about Jane as well, actually, in the New Yorker. Did you read that one? It was about the problem. It was Jane Birkin and her problem of beauty.

[Interviewer]

Oh, no.

[Alexa Chung]

And it was about how she was an it girl, obviously the it girl, but how she, as a young woman had tried to commit suicide and was also really into poetry and was an artist in her own right. But her magnetism and the quality that was indefinable about her also dangerously made her an it girl. And from that made it seem they said something along the lines of. I'm paraphrasing, but, like, having this magical capacity to hint at being able to do a lot of different things that were kind of mystical is also dangerously close to doing nothing or not being able to do anything. And yeah, it was so interesting because I was like thinking about how. How she aged and what she chose to do and is. It is a trap, isn't it? It's almost like she was. Not that she. I'm not saying she felt like that, but everyone was so obsessed with her at a particular moment or something. And her relationship to Serge and it's like, I know.

[Interviewer]

Cause in the end, the it girl was determined by other people and she was an actress and a very creative person, and yet everyone wanted to keep her as this kind of fantasy figure.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And she was so beautiful and so kind of captivating and endearing and talented.

[Alexa Chung]

But just as beguiling older as well. I interviewed her.

[Interviewer]

Did you?

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, I interviewed her at the va. She was amazing. And I remember we were sat backstage waiting, and I just didn't know what to do with her because I loved her so much. I was like, oh, God, I don't even know what to say. Say there's so much to say.

[Interviewer]

Because she was quite. Matter of fact.

[Alexa Chung]

Well, she was incredible because she wasn't very well at the time and she was kind of, you know, she was quite like. Not imagining is the wrong word because she was so generous and amazing. But she was also quite Bruce. Uncomfortable because she was unwell.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

But she said, what. What do you want me to. What do you want to talk about? And I was like, well, it's about your book. I'm here to interview you. But her friend had done this amazing book on her. She was like, I presume you want to know about Serge. And I was like, well, yes, obviously, because he's incredible. Actually, no, it's not that. It's. I love this. Is this big thing about muses as well, I think about, like, he is interesting for sure, but he caught on fire when he met her. You know, it's like she's the key to his magnetism, in my mind at least. Obviously, he's an incredible artist and his. His creative output, like eclipsed everything and was definitely existing before she turned up. But like their relationship and that thing that everyone's obsessed with, it comes from her as much as him.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, completely. I know that I had this. Well, I made this jumper which you wore, Love, which made I. With Jane on the front. But that came about because I'd made a jumper call with it said, ginsburg is God.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And then I got a message from Jane Birkin's agent saying, jane loves your Gainsborg is God jumper. And I thought, what am I going to do? I can't just say everyone's God. So I kind of went into myself and thought, what is my feeling about Jane? And then I thought, back when I was at school, we had these wooden desks, and we used to carve in, like, messages. I remember I'd carved in get up, stand up. You know, I'd just discovered Bob Marley. And I thought, okay, this is Je t', aime, Jane. And then the Jane was done in a different type of script, and it was, you know, etched into my heart into this desk. And then I put Serge on the arm.

[Alexa Chung]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

And Gansbourg is God on the back.

[Alexa Chung]

Really good.

[Interviewer]

And then you. I sold a few of these jumpers, and then you wore it. And I. One day someone rang my doorbell and said, I'm from Argentina. I need this jumper. I could have just. And then. And then I got a message. I tried to send some to her, and I got a message on my answer machine back in those days saying, oh, thank you so much for the Jane, but I can't possibly wear it. But maybe my daughters could wear it. But no, of course they couldn't wear Je tame Jane. Oh, my God. It was like kind of this sort of poetic story of her complete and utter disinterest in herself. As you know, she.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, she really didn't seem to know that she'd really taken Tumblr by storm. And I said, you know, I love you. And she went, yeah, no, I know. She's like, duh. There's me with my fringe and my. Like. I was like, I really like you.

[Interviewer]

That's so good. That's brilliant. I love that.

[Podcast Host (Today Explained)]

We all have it. Men want more.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, they do.

[Podcast Host (Today Explained)]

Women also want more. Oh, yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Testosterone today on Today Explained. The hormone of which ladies and germs cannot get enough. Everyone's on T. Should they be? Stay turned weekday afternoons, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Alexa Chung]

Let's bring that bass back.

[Adobe Express Advertiser]

Oh, yeah.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Bring the crew.

[Alexa Chung]

Give him a big T finish.

[Good Noticings Host 1]

Good Noticings, Ashley.

[Good Noticings Host 2]

Good noticings to you, Claire, and to the listeners.

[Good Noticings Host 1]

Welcome to Good Noticings.

[Good Noticings Host 2]

What is in Kevin Federline's memoir?

[Good Noticings Host 1]

Who is Mel Robbins and why should we let her?

[Good Noticings Host 2]

Have you seen a wonder market popping up in your neighborhood?

[Good Noticings Host 1]

Have you eaten it? Why is it so disgusting?

[Alexa Chung]

Who robbed the Louvre?

[Good Noticings Host 1]

These questions and why we are deep diving into as we read all of the hottest articles about the buzziest cultural moments from last week. And we Discuss them with you.

[Good Noticings Host 2]

Our dear listeners, we read beyond the headlines so that you have something to talk about at your next dinner party.

[Good Noticings Host 1]

Or if you're too tired from work to form an opinion, we'll come up with one and you can take it as your own.

[Good Noticings Host 2]

This is good noticings, the podcast where we are looking around and noticing stuff.

[Good Noticings Host 1]

We've noticed that Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have a weird marriage. You guys noticed that one recently?

[Good Noticings Host 2]

You guys ever think about that? Cause you can think about it with us everywhere you get your podcast.

[Interviewer]

And do you find the certain clothes that make you feel better when you're feeling.

[Alexa Chung]

I'm having such a deja vu right now.

[Interviewer]

Really?

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah. How weird. You hear this. This colour. We've done it before and we'll do it again.

[Interviewer]

So are there certain clothes that make you feel better when you're feeling low?

[Alexa Chung]

Hmm. No. I really believe in. I really. As a friendship group, we joke. That's called total image commitment. You know, I love the idea that. This is why I love that Nick Cave wears his suits all the time. You know, I like. You know, I'd hate to bump into Nick Cave and he have on. Not that, you know, suit made by me. Suit made by you.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

So if I'm feeling low, though, there's not really an outfit that can. I'm quite level with my vibe, actually.

[Interviewer]

I'd say, do you get low?

[Alexa Chung]

I think there's a minor chord that's going throughout me all the time. That's what I mean about the melancholy or the nostalgia is always there, but it's not fluctuating with dips.

[Interviewer]

That's good.

[Alexa Chung]

But I love ugg boots to feel cozy, but I kind of refuse to wear a bad outfit. So even in the house, I'm not like. Yeah. My friend said to me, I imagine when you get home, you're not really wearing your comfy clothes. You actually just wear jeans, slightly larger. It's the same jeans. You just got them one size up.

[Interviewer]

Who's this friend from where?

[Alexa Chung]

From Mat from Wales. Yeah. Good.

[Interviewer]

Good accent. And you name checked Mrs. P in your Elle Style Award, except for the.

[Alexa Chung]

L. Wasn't that great? That was good fun.

[Interviewer]

It was so wonderful.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And what is it about Miuccia Prada? She's like the great oracle of fashion. And how has she directed you when you've walked for her?

[Alexa Chung]

Oh, well, it's interesting you should say that because I walked for her last time I walked for her, which was so. I've only done it twice, but I was like you know, over the moon. You don't understand how much I love Prada and Mimiu.

[Interviewer]

It's really.

[Alexa Chung]

I love her. I think she's so. Something about what she's up to is the same way. I think on some level, I don't know, it's. I love that it's. Well, I think she's also in on the joke. You know, I think she plays with. I think she. Her clothes. I think she understands the male gaze and refuses to interact with it, or sometimes deliberately courts it, but on her own terms. And I find that really interesting. And also that it's cinematic. She takes cues from cinema. Obviously, she's really involved in that scene, but it's almost like she's creating characters. And the clothes have a full backstory. They're not just clothes. She's really imagining, you know, so many different women. I'm imagining this. I don't know if this is true. Then there's also the proportion and how she plays with it, and there's humor in it. You know, I just went to that Miu Miu show, and it was aprons, and it's this kind of bastion of domesticity that then it's reworked in, like, a kind of coquettish, sexy thing. Not in a. Like, obviously French maid and aprons. That's a whole other trope. But she. It's almost like she almost had a. It was like a kitchen sink drama or something.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

It's almost as if everyone was wearing marigolds, you know, it was totally sexless to the point that it became kinky again.

[Interviewer]

Yes.

[Alexa Chung]

Like double bounce. So everything's really, I think, provocative, I find in her designs. But when I walked for her, I was so excited, and I walked up the steps, and you're all in a line waiting to go out, and your heart's racing. I mean, it's so thrilling and scary. And she was by the monitor, and I thought she was looking at the monitor of all the models, and actually she was watching Formula one.

[Interviewer]

Oh, my God. Really?

[Alexa Chung]

I just love her. She's so fucking cool. She's the coolest.

[Interviewer]

That's extraordinary, isn't it?

[Alexa Chung]

I mean, she was checking the monitor as well, but she was also, you know, she's just really cool.

[Interviewer]

How did she want you to move then, when you walked out? Or did she not?

[Alexa Chung]

It wasn't her directly. That said, I think they just. I don't really remember what the direction was, but I certainly remember seeing images of it later and being like, oh, no. Because here's the Thing when you're young, you look a certain way. So I suppose I associated Runway modeling with, like, being. When I was younger, you could just walk out and it was fine. Now I have all this experience and my resting phase is actually so much more traumatized by life and I, you know, not that it's necessarily sad, but my eyes in these images just look so woe begone. And I was talking to someone recently about it and she said, oh, yeah, that's the aha moment. I said, what do you mean? She said, when you're a young woman, you're a young woman and then life comes at you and you experience all these things and then you have this moment of realization about how unfair everything is and you just go, aha. And suddenly you've got sight more. Your face hangs and like, what the fuck way?

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

And I have what the fuck eyes now, I guess. And so now if I'm invited to walk on a catwalk ever, I think I would remember to think thoughts in my head and not go blank and expect that the face can do the talking. Because actually, blank me just looks like terribly sad me.

[Interviewer]

Do you think it's showing more?

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, the mask is slipping.

[Interviewer]

It's interesting, though, that idea, and I know exactly what you're talking about, of composing bits of, like, composing your eyeballs so that they don't kind of pop out. I'm speaking for myself. I remember seeing a photograph of myself at something. I was incredibly happy, ecstatic. Some thing I'd organized and my eyes looked like they were just. I thought, I've got to control them.

[Alexa Chung]

Were they on stalks?

[Interviewer]

They were just too galette. They were too keen. They were. They were taking over in a way that didn't really represent me. So I quite like the idea that you can sort of message bits of yourself and.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, you know, but I think you can, because then I walked for Chloe. I love Shimaina. And that was so cool to do. And in that one, I was like, what do I do? Like, I just don't know how to do it without looking either sad or angry. And so, yeah, my boyfriend was like, I think you should just try. You've just had really good sex. Or try and look like you're kind of. You don't necessarily need to be there.

[Interviewer]

What do you mean?

[Alexa Chung]

Rather than looking like, I've got to do this job really well. Right, right.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

You know, embody the character of the Chloe woman, who's someone that's quite relaxed and fits, too cool to be there.

[Interviewer]

And sort of yeah, it's beautiful what she does. I really, I loved the last show. I mean, I've, I've liked everything she's done so far.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, the last show is amazing.

[Interviewer]

It was incredibly good.

[Alexa Chung]

I love that sort of 50s, 80s thing.

[Interviewer]

It's got so much radical freedom. It was really good.

[Podcast Host (Today Explained)]

Asted Herndon, you're finally here.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Finally. I'm excited to be here.

[Podcast Host (Today Explained)]

You are joining Today Explained for the next five months to fill in for my co host Sean while he's taking care of a baby. And you are also starting a brand new podcast at Pops.

[Podcast Guest/Reporter]

Exactly.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I'm excited to continue my reporting and help make politics more accessible to people.

[Podcast Host (Today Explained)]

What's the thing that you're most excited to cover?

[Narrator/Reporter]

I'm most excited to help people make sense of all the noise that's happening right now and try to figure out what really matters. And most importantly, help people make sense of the chaos that's going on right now.

[Podcast Host (Today Explained)]

Today Explained weekdays Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Guest/Reporter]

Support for the show comes from New York magazine's the Strategist. The Strategist helps people who want to shop the Internet smartly. Its editors are reporters, testers and obsessives. You can think of them as your shopaholic friends who care equally about function, value, innovation and good taste. And their new feature, the Gift Scout, takes the best of their reporting and recommendations and uses it to serve the surface gifts for the most hard to shop for people on your list. All you have to do is type in a description of that person. Like your parent who swears they don't want anything, or your brother in law who's a tech junkie or your niece with a sweet tooth. And the Gift Scout will scan through all of the products they've written about and come up with some relevant suggestions. The more specific you make your requests, the better. Even down to the age range, every single product you'll see is something they write written about so you can be confident that your gift has a strategist seal of approval. Visit thestrategist.com giftscout to try it out yourself.

[Interviewer]

And is there a random garment that a man wears that you find incredibly attractive?

[Alexa Chung]

Attractive. I do love a suit, particularly a husband's suit. You know that brand? Husband's?

[Interviewer]

Oh yes, in France. Yeah, they're so nice. Vinud wears Husband.

[Alexa Chung]

Oh really?

[Interviewer]

Yeah, he told me about it.

[Alexa Chung]

Actually. I bought a jacket there because I want to wear it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, really good tweed.

[Alexa Chung]

So I love that.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

Or it's a fine line, isn't it? Because I think when dudes are too trendy, it's almost a bit vain or something. I don't really necessarily love the idea of them shopping for things. Sort of seems undignified or something. I don't know.

[Interviewer]

Because if. If you fancy someone and don't like something they're wearing, does it kill your attraction?

[Alexa Chung]

No, because I've definitely gone out with people that I don't think have the best style. But I just think. I mean, I really love a brain. I've tried different versions of this with boyfriends, but, like, you just have to be. I really need to connect mentally. It's just about the brain. So then as I've got older, if that comes in a different look, I don't really care. I think all my friends would be like, yes, you do. You switch out the jumpers, you liar. I'm quite good at updating a wardrobe as well. Yeah. I will say I'm quite good at doing a. What's it called? Makeover.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yes, I bet.

[Alexa Chung]

A subtle and slow, terrifying makeover.

[Interviewer]

But I suppose it's the trendy thing that's always the enemy because there's too much kind of. Who is it? Someone told me trousers that are tight around the calf.

[Alexa Chung]

Oh, yeah, no, not that, mine's, you know. Sorry. If anyone's got them on, I come in peace. But those little ankle socks that are hidden within a shoe, like a sport.

[Interviewer]

Yes. You and Stefano Pilati.

[Alexa Chung]

Oh, does he hate.

[Interviewer]

And somebody else as well.

[Alexa Chung]

Oh, they're horrific. Can't bear that. I would say, like, yeah, I'm not huge on tracksuit bottoms, but I think that might be. I think I personally look bad in them. So then I don't love. I just like. I quite like a suit.

[Interviewer]

A suit is really totally disarming, isn't it? It's amazing. What's the best compliment someone has ever paid you or you've ever received? I always remember when I was 21, I think, I went to lunch with my father and he took me to this very elegant man's house and there was an old, ancient, old queen there. And he said, oh, you look like a Manet.

[Alexa Chung]

And I thought, you look like a what?

[Interviewer]

A Manet. And I thought I'd never forgotten that. That was the best highlight moment of my life. And it's an interesting question.

[Alexa Chung]

Do you know, I don't really get that many compliments, I don't think. I mean, you've been very generous to me today, but people certainly don't tell me they like my outfit. Ever.

[Interviewer]

Really?

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah. Like literally never. I don't know. Yeah, I think if someone said I was funny or clever, I'd love that.

[Interviewer]

But what does your boyfriend say to you?

[Alexa Chung]

Oh, he's very complimentary. His good compliment is even just, I trust you implicitly. Or.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

As in I said, should we do this or that just now? And he said, I don't know. Follow your gut because your instincts always. Right. And I trust your instincts.

[Interviewer]

I suppose a good compliment is being seen, isn't it? And so someone who. Who sees that and then tells you and it's kind of thrilling.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah, 100%. That's exactly right. I've definitely. Yeah. It's so amazing to be with someone who sees me. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Well, I must have paid you low because every time I see you, I always.

[Alexa Chung]

I can remember your compliments because, honestly, they're quite rare that I get them. And you once, I remember seeing you in New York and you said something like, it was seeing. Seeing an animal in the wild.

[Interviewer]

And I was like, I remember that moment. I was in New York and I was with this friend, Hugo Guinness, and he went, and I spotted you and thought, God, who's she? She looks amazing. And he said, oh, it's that fashion girl. And then I remembered, and then I accosted you. And I practically. I think you had, like a patent leather jacket or coat or you had legs. You had the best legs. I always remember. And then I remember bumping into you outside the In N Out Club and you were wearing this incredible outfit. And even the other day when we went to Miu Mew Tales.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And you were wearing this amazing dress with a cutout. But I can't help. I always. I always am thrilled by a great look. And I kind of never hold back.

[Alexa Chung]

Well, I go around telling everyone I love if someone's got something on that I love. I'm like, oh, my God, that's amazing. Where's it from? I'm always, like, doing a stock take in my head. I have to know where things are from and catalog them.

[Interviewer]

It's weird. Maybe because you're sort of famous for dressing well and having this great look. People think, oh, I better not say anything. She must be bored. And.

[Alexa Chung]

Well, maybe because actually if I go to the countryside or somewhere, then they are more complimentary. Oh, I like your boots. I'm like, oh, thanks. Yeah. No, otherwise, in London, everyone's keeping schtum.

[Interviewer]

And you had lots of things named after you, like the Mulberry bag and. And then the Siri Alexa, which was named after. It must be about. I mean, every time I ask Alexa anything thing, I always think I'm asking you.

[Alexa Chung]

Oh, that's nice.

[Interviewer]

Sure. It's not nearly as forthcoming as you.

[Alexa Chung]

Are, but kids love that one. They find it hilarious. I'm called Alex, but I. I bet.

[Interviewer]

I bet there is a connection because your name, you know, it's quite timely, wasn't it?

[Alexa Chung]

I don't think so. I think. What didn't they say it was? Because everyone can say it or something.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

But I think that's really weird because all my life before that, everyone called me Alexia or Alexis or. It wasn't really a name people could get right, but now they can, so that's good. I remember as a kid being like, oh, I wish people could just say my name correctly. It's a real careful what you wish for situation.

[Interviewer]

Do you enjoy having things named after you? How's that with your conflict about.

[Alexa Chung]

It's hard to unpick it all at this point because it's just been so long. But definitely the bag was a great compliment because I loved Mulberry.

[Interviewer]

It was great.

[Alexa Chung]

It was. One of the first bags I bought was a. I saved up to get the Bayswater with my modeling jobs. I was like a fit model for French Connection.

[Interviewer]

Oh, wow.

[Alexa Chung]

Which was really interesting.

[Interviewer]

I loved it, actually. So fun talent, being a fit model.

[Alexa Chung]

Actually, fit model is a really weird job. Yeah. You have to stay really still and then they. Yeah, they fit the clothes to you. But I bought this Bayswater bag at Harrods, and I loved it.

[Interviewer]

And then it was a Bayswater bag.

[Alexa Chung]

Bayswater was like the classic one. It was just one flap, quite simple, with handles. They're really heavy, though. And I wanted it for my modeling book to put it in there, because in the olden days, guys, you sort of carry around a portfolio and. Yeah, it was great. And then I started carrying their men's briefcase, the Elkington. And then Emma Hill, who worked there at the time, was inspired by that and made the Alexa. But I didn't design it. She designed it. And then people thought that I'd made it, and it became this big thing and wasn't really to do with me at all, but they certainly benefited from it. So that was nice.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Well, for me, you're Alexa. Whenever I ask the phone, anything, but.

[Alexa Chung]

Do you have to say the name? And then she answers, I think so.

[Interviewer]

I hardly ever use it. I'm always worried if I. If I set it off. No, I just worry if I think then I'll stop thinking. So I rarely ask for any.

[Alexa Chung]

I did sleep with something. I don't know if you want to cut this one out, but it's funny. I slept with someone once and they went, alexa, turn off the lights. And I went to get out. No, I know that it's really funny. I was like, fuck. Sorry. Oh, God.

[Interviewer]

God, that's so hilarious.

[Alexa Chung]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And you recently took photographs for 10 magazine, Germany. And yeah, they're very much your world, but you don't bounce people away in the photos and you. They allow people to look at your work without any commentary. And they're really good. I really like your photographs. Is it relaxing to be in control of the looks you're creating from. From this position?

[Alexa Chung]

I really loved doing that shoot. And I was photographing a couple of friends of mine, Ida and Oda, and they're both amazing artists, and it was just really fun. It felt like playing for a day. And they were really game, and they're really good at knowing what they look good in. And Veronica was styling it. But I love. I just love capturing beauty, basically. And it's the same with my friends. Like, if someone's looking a certain way or there's a certain light on them, I'm like, oh, wait, stay there, stay there. I'll always forget to bring my proper camera these days, but I just really like making people or capturing people at their most gorgeous. It's fun.

[Interviewer]

Is that something that you play, plan to do more of?

[Alexa Chung]

Maybe. Yeah. I loved learning more about how much other stuff Diane Keaton was doing. Obviously, she's just passed away, which was so sad, but I didn't realize that she did so much collage or that she loved interior design or that she made books. I didn't even know that. I think I'll always take pictures, and so far it's just been for myself. But if people are interested in seeing them, that's fun to share too.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

But I do like. I think so much of my life is public, not in a famous way, but in a, like, you know, a lot of my work is front of house, as it were. That it's also nice to have something that's just for me as well.

[Interviewer]

They're very intimate, and that's a real quality. I think that's what I love about any kind of photography, is that you feel drawn in and you see invited to the party. Yeah. Or you just see something that someone allows you to and. And you definitely. When I looked, I just looked. Saw on your Instagram, thought, God, these are great.

[Alexa Chung]

Thank you so much. I love it. I was also quite scared. It made me realize how. How scared other people must be sometimes. Like, I've turned up for shoots, and I've been shooting since I was so young that sometimes I have a lot to say about the lighting or something. And I thought, God, how horrible of me, because they. Maybe they were terrified. I don't know. It's scary to go in and think, God, I really want to do a good job and have I captured them in the right way. And I want everyone to feel comfortable as well. So I shared a lot of the images with Oda and Ida as well to make sure that they liked themselves in the pictures because there were other ones that I maybe preferred. But as someone that's photographed, I wanted to make sure they felt as beautiful as possible in them. Not even beautiful. Beautiful is so the wrong word. I wanted them to recognize themselves in it, in the image and be seen. It's that thing again.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

I remember years ago, I shot with Karl Lagerfeld for his little black jacket book, and he was the photographer. And I got to the shoot, and Poppy was there, and she was done up as a ballerina, and Daphne was there, and she obviously just looked incredible and was. I think she was a DJ in her shoot. And Kirsten Dunst. Kristen Dunst. Kirsten. That name, eh? Hard for the English, isn't it? Kirsten Dunst.

[Interviewer]

Kirsten Dunst.

[Alexa Chung]

She was maybe a princess or something.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

And I turned up and he was like, I want to put a moustache on you. Peter Phillips was doing the makeup, and he was drawing on a mustache because he was like, I see you as a regal boy.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Alexa Chung]

Okay. Anyway, so then I had to be like, I don't love the moustache. Do you mind if I just don't have it? And so I had a crown because I was to be princely, handsome and princely. And I got to the set and he took a picture. One. He went. And then I went, wait, sorry, is that it? And he went, come with me. And I went to the monitor and went, this is a picture of you. Is it you? And I went, yeah. And he went, do you look like you? And I went, yeah. And he went. Then this is it.

[Interviewer]

God, that's really good. Yeah. And you had the moustache still do.

[Alexa Chung]

You know, he was right. I do look like me in the picture.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

And, yeah, it's. I love the picture, actually. It's cool.

[Interviewer]

Well, thank you so much, Alexa, for beyond being on Fashion Neurosis.

[Alexa Chung]

Thanks. For having me.

[Interviewer]

Some of your numerous.

[Alexa Chung]

Bella, your voice is so relaxing that I'm surprised people haven't taken a nap. It's so nice. Thanks.

[Interviewer]

You've certainly kept me on my toes, which is what I needed.

[Alexa Chung]

Pick me up?

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Alexa Chung]

Do I roll off now? How. How do you dismount here?