Alexa Chung cannot be pinned down with a quick conclusion. She has singular beauty closely chased with a wit to make lilac fields sway electric. She has evolved throughout her career with a quiet grace that strikes a sharp note as she commands the post as designer of her own eponymous Ready-to-wear label. Her latest endeavor is a complete narrative that is a true feat in the space of a single runway show. There is an elusive ever present aspect to Chung that never quite resolves, it leaves one with a constant thirst for her next vision. She began her show with a model in an enviable prairie dress and another in what could be a potato sack turned puff blouse that happens to fall perfectly off the shoulder. There are quickly interjections of tailored dreamscapes that include weighty coats, silk pajamas and sunglasses, of course. Her collection reflects the nuances she describes with affection as "consistently inconsistent." The show evolves through a kind of glamourous 'Drop City' into a future-perfect world with leather skimming power suits that could have been the uniform of a Viscount past on his way to The Lamb House to visit Henry James over a field of rye.

Brit Parks: Can you speak to the narrative of your new collection and how it evolved for you.

Alexa Chung: 'Off The Grid' was conceived at a time when I was probably watching too much Handmaid’s Tale which was bleak to say the least. That, teamed with everything that was going on in American politics at the time, gave me a great want for escape. I imagined a band of women going underground or off the grid and scraping together the strength to fight onward. The clothes are a kind of cultish armor.

BP: Was it your ambition to have this flock of women living through a cycle of isolated survival to triumphant escape.

AC: Yes, they needed to be clothes you could get things done in but also garments that make you feel stronger. Wearing traditional prairie dresses can certainly harness the same feminine power as a tailored suit.

BP: Were there distinct personalities being represented in your show?

AC: I never try to give distinct personalities to the women within my collections. It’s a mood inspired by optimism, born out of dystopia. It’s about finding strength within yourself. I want the ALEXACHING woman to identify with that idea, not a specific personality.

BP: What are your favorite pieces from your new collection and why?

AC: I can’t stop wearing the tailored pieces. Over the seasons, we have developed beautiful, sharp silhouettes in our jackets and trousers with an impeccable fit that feels empowering. In the runway show, I loved the styling of the headscarves that Camille Bidault-Waddington added; it evoked a soft homespun element to a collection of dark strong pieces.

BP: Do you have a favorite fashion memory.

AC: I was invited to a Chanel casino night in Vegas. With a gaggle of amazing women, in head to toe Chanel, we gambled while we sipped whiskey and coke cocktails. It was a riot.

BP: Do you have a consistent creative process. Do you reinvent it for each new venture.

AC: I am consistently inconsistent. I follow what draws my curiosity in the moment. That can be a fixation on an era of history, a particular flower or a band. Then I build a world from there.

BP:  What was the last thing you drew inspiration from. 

AC: A book on Japanese street style from the seventies. I’m finding it hard to put it down or not use it as some kind of sartorial bible. 

BP: You have such a witty sense of humor. Does it help you manage the demands of your career or is it just instinctual charm.

AC: Gah. Thanks. I think you can only be funny if you have a very serious grip on how dark life can be. Humour is definitely the way I can get through certain aspects of my career without having a nervous breakdown

BP: What are the cornerstones of British style that you identify with.

AC: Practicality. Eccentricity. Tradition.

BP: What are your favorite places to travel to. What attracts you to them in particular.

AC: I love heading back to New York. It isn’t a traditionally relaxing place to be but, I was reading a Nora Ephron essay the other day that said once you live in New York and find your world within Manhattan, it’s actually a very calm and easy place to be. She went on to say, take heed however; if you turn your back on it, it turns its back on you. I would agree with that.

BP: What music are you currently playing in your studio.

AC: At the moment, it's some kind of jazz which, A. I didn’t put on. and B. I don’t particularly like. If I had a choice it would be 'I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down’ by Ann Peebles that I just stole from Bobby Gillespie's playlist the other night.

BP: Can you speak to your love of rock n' roll wares mixed with perfectly tailored pieces.

AC: I wore a suit to Glastonbury this year. It felt like the right thing to do.

This print interview by Brit Parks appeared in UNPOLISHED MAGAZINE, Book 7, The New Wave. Images courtesy of Alexa Chung and UNPOLISHED MAGAZINE. Cover photo by Mario Testino.