For our Weekly Drop Watch column, Fashionista scours the market to curate the most noteworthy releases from our favorite fashion and beauty brands. Keep scrolling for this week’s highlights. Alexa Chung x Madewell returns for the holiday season with 31 pieces including new product categories like …
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“We’ve been on a journey together, me and Madewell,” Chung tells Refinery29. “I’ve always made an effort to make things super personal, but this is definitely the most personal collection that we’ve collaborated on. It’s very vintage inspired and it’s also quite musically led, so it’s really specific to my tastes. I am thrilled with it.”
From tried-and-true winter styles like oversized sweaters, crochet scarves, lacy slip dresses, and herringbone dress coats, to more unexpected styles like football jerseys, white jeans, and “We’re Witches Bitches” graphic tees, the collaboration perfectly reflects Chung’s “eclectic, specific, and cool” aesthetic.
The nostalgic and romantic 31-piece collection also spans distressed Madewell jeans and leather skirts and jackets, as well as giftable accessories like crew socks, hooded scarves, and floral brooches. Chung specifically recommends gifting one of the statement belts for the holidays. “I love this belt because it can cinch your waist over a dress, slung low with baggy jeans, or wear it over loads of coats. I love the idea of jewelry over outerwear, so I’d probably get someone one of the belts.”
I spend a lot of time tracking what celebrities wear—so when one of my style muses steps out in a brand I thought was still flying under the radar, I know it’s only a matter of time before everyone else catches on. This week, that moment came courtesy of Alexa Chung, who was spotted wearing the very same under-the-radar trainer brand I’d previously only seen on Sienna Miller. The label in question? Hoff.
Chung attended an event with the brand this week, wearing an aubergine-tinted, low-profile design from the brand. By passing the typical jeans we expect to see worn with trainers, instead, Chung opted for a sleek navy pinstripe suit, styled with a soft beige blouse. Grounding the sharp tailoring, Chung’s retro trainers gave her a look that relaxed, insouciant edge that Alexa’s always mastered.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
While Sienna has previously reached for Hoff’s chunkier silhouettes, there’s been a noticeable shift this season towards more refined, streamlined styles. Luxury houses like Loewe and Dries Van Noten have set the tone, and now high street labels including COS and H&M have followed suit with sleeker, minimalist trainers that feel fresh and elevated.
Alexa’s pair, the Hoff Bridge Trainers (£160), come in a supple suede finish and are available in rich shades of plum, red, dark brown and light beige. Keep scrolling to shop her exact pair—and discover my edit of the best slim-line trainers to wear now.
While I love these in the dark purple, they also come in red, black and beige.
Dries Van Noten
Leather-Trimmed Suede Sneakers
While I love these in the classic tan, they also come in four other shades.
Adidas Originals
+ Y-3 Suede Sneakers
A tonal black trainer will always be in style.
Loewe
Ballet Runner 2.0 Logo-Appliquéd Shell, Suede and Leather Sneakers
In a wearable palette of cream and tan these are so easy to slot into a capsule wardrobe.
Toteme
Leather-Trimmed Cotton-Canvas Sneakers
While I love these in the classic black, they also come in an all-white style.
Honestly, these look much more expensive than they actually are.
The rouched heel detailing gives these an expensive-looking edge.
& Other Stories
Suede-Detail Trainers
Wear these with tall socks to give your styling a preppy edge.
Marks & Spencer
Leather Stripe Trainers
These also come in half sizes so you can find your perfect fit.
Whistles
Chocolate Soft Suede Sneaker
The suede trainer trend isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
COS
Minimal Leather Trainers
These also come in eight other colours.
Everyone loves a black dress, but truth be told, they can be a little dull without those interesting extras that make them cooler, more special, or more expensive-looking—or all three. And speaking of the latter, Alexa Chung knows exactly what it takes to make a black dress look rich.
For an event in London this week, Chung wore an LBD and high-heel slide sandals. And the piece that made her outfit look more fall-friendly and extremely rich was what she wore over it: a brown suede blazer. As we all know, brown suede blazers were arguably the biggest trend of the season last fall, and given how timeless and elegant they are, it comes as no surprise that everyone will be wearing them again this fall—especially given that they’re an investment.
The next time you put on a black dress and want to look luxe, throw on a brown suede blazer, look in the mirror, and thank me later. Keep scrolling to shop my favorite ones.
(Image credit: Ricky Vigil M/Justin E Palmer/GC Images/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Ricky Vigil M/Justin E Palmer/GC Images/Getty Images)
On Alexa Chung: Alexa Chung for Madewell blazer
Madewell
Double-Breasted Blazer in Suede
Open Edit
Ruched One-Shoulder Body-Con Minidress
Schutz
Dethalia 65mm Suede Sandals
Reformation x Veda
Leon Oversized Blazer
Madewell
The Kline Blazer
Elodie the Label
Elodie Hayes Vegan Suede Jacket
Free People
Paper Cut Faux Suede Blazer
ZARA
100% Suede Leather Blazer ZW Collection Limited Edition
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Now that Labor Day is behind us, I’m ready to start leaving some of my summer staples behind for now. The only issue is that it still kind of feels like summer outside. So mentally, I’ve moved on to fall, but practically, it’s a bit too soon to bust out the sweaters and suede boots. Enter Alexa Chung with the perfect outfit solution for right now, which involves combining a bit of summer with a bit of fall.
Chung is currently in Italy for the Venice Film Festival, and for the occasion, she packed a white Prada minidress made of lightweight poplin. Had she paired the dress with sandals, it would’ve looked quite summery, but since she opted for a shoe trend that was significantly more substantial, her outfit looked a bit less like it belonged in high summer and more like it belonged in September. The trend was patent leather block heels, which are a favorite style of the European It-girl crowd (of which Chung is a member). She opted for a Mary-Jane style, but there are plenty of other style options that fall under the umbrella of this trend, and any one of them will make your summer dresses look more fall-friendly in an instant. If that’s your goal, keep scrolling.
(Image credit: Cobra Team/Backgrid)
(Image credit: Cobra Team/Backgrid)
On Alexa Chung: Prada dress; Miu Miu arm band bracelet; Repetto shoes
Reformation
Maddox Slingback Heels
Sézane
Mélanie Mary Janes
Repetto
Black Camille Heels
Linea Paolo
Marcel T-Strap Pumps
MANGO
Patent Leather-Effect Block-Heel Shoes
Christian Louboutin
Miss Sab Patent Pumps
AEYDE
Aline Patent-Leather Mary Jane Pumps
Stuart Weitzman
Maeve Slingback Pumps
Miu Miu
Bicolor Patent Leather Block-Heel Mary Jane Pumps
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From the high school friends blowing up her phone to the moms at her kids’ drop-off, everyone wants to know: Is Jackie Chung from The Summer I Turned Pretty Team Conrad, or Team Jeremiah?
“Team Belly,” Chung has told them diplomatically, but not unsurprisingly. Like the other members of the cast, who have been promoting the third and final season of the Amazon Prime show non-stop since it premiered on July 16, the actor is sworn to secrecy about Belly’s fate, which may or may not differ from the book trilogy by Jenny Han that the series is based on.
However, as the season has progressed—episode seven out of 11 premiered today on the streamer—another will-they, won’t-they storyline has emerged, this one centering Belly’s (Lola Tung) divorced parents, Laurel (Chung) and John (Colin Ferguson).
In the years since their split, John and Laurel have become reacquainted as friends. And then, in episode two of season 3, as something…more? After running into each other at a work conference, the pair find themselves in Laurel’s hotel room, tipsy and uninhibited. Immediately after their night together, Laurel seems regretful, while John is hopeful. And fans are eating it up.
The cross-generational appeal of The Summer I Turned Pretty—which on paper is about a teenage love triangle, but in reality is as much about parenting teenagers who make poor decisions—has been a surprising side effect of the show’s success. Since it premiered on Amazon Prime in 2022, the show has become a global phenomenon, and season 3 is the number one most-watched show among women 18-34. However, if the TikToks on my own For You Page are to be believed, the audience is a motley mix of people, from Gen Alpha to Boomers, who tune in every week to watch protagonist Belly choose between one of two brothers—Conrad (Christopher Briney) or Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno). “YA”—a.k.a. Young Adult—is merely a suggestion.
Over the past three seasons, viewers have grown fond of Laurel, Belly’s stern but loving mom, whose friendship with the Fisher boys’ mom, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard), is the reason Belly’s in this whole brother-love-triangle mess to begin with. Some have called for a spin-off series about Laurel’s middle-aged quandaries, about how she’s dealt with the loss of her best friend, a divorce, and a daughter who makes messy, almost unforgivable choices. Maybe it’s women who see themselves in Laurel—a woman who says she regrets her decision to marry and have kids so young, without taking the time to get to know herself first. Or maybe it’s Chung’s charm, or her quiet ferocity, that’s ignited such a fierce debate about where the character should go next.
Chung hasn’t heard anything from the powers that be about a Laurel-focused spin-off, though she’s aware of the discourse, as well as the hype around a potential prequel centering on John, Laurel, and Susannah’s college days.
“I think it’d be super interesting to see how they all met, how Susannah and Laurel became friends and how the relationship started,” Chung says. “I probably wouldn’t be part of it. I don’t think I could pull off young Laurel anymore.” For the record, Chung is 46—not 62, as the shocking internet rumor from a few years ago would have you believe.