"It s an updated version of a really disgusting cream floral dungaree dress my mum used to make me wear," says Alexa Chung, laughing. She s talking about a vintage-style blouse under a blue and white striped denim dungaree pinafore, one of the looks from her Madewell debut, shown tonight at the Bowery Hotel. Chung s best girlfriend, DJ Tennessee Thomas, pumped out classic 60s pop like the Shangri-Las, while some of her friends—Poppy Delevigne, Pixie Geldof—modeled. (though Pixie had to leave before the 8pm end time to catch a flight). Beyond what she wore as a kid, Chung cited Mallory Towers, Enid Blyton s cult British boarding school series of books, as an influence. "The collection s all quite English schoolgirl really," she shrugs, although railroad prints and denim in many guises (jeans, dresses and super short shorts) belie a distinctly American spin. Seems like Chung needn t worry about her very British style not travelling over here.
New York In The Moment: Alexa Chung for Madewell, Bowery Hotel, 6:25p.m.
