“It all started with pencil and paper and evolved from there,” said AG Jeans Creative Director Samuel Ku, describing Alexa Chung‘s process as she set about drawing up a 21-piece collection for the Los Angeles-based denim line that launched in Beverly Hills on Thursday, January 22. Ku noted that he and his team gave Chung creative rein to dream up the jean dresses, pants, overall pinafores, skirts, shorts, and jackets, as well as the cotton T-shirts, and sweatshirts that make up the Alexa Chung for AG spring 2015 collection. “I’d give her my recommendations, but I wanted to let her do what she wanted to do. She’s a really special talent and I think that’s maybe what people don’t know about her,” Ku said. “They know she has style but they don’t know her work ethic or drive. She wants to do her own line and you can see that’s there in her,” he added.

Chung, a TV presenter, author, and fashion harbinger, launched the collaboration in her native London before joining Ku in New York (her current home base) for a party held at Bergdorf Goodman. Once the festivities reached L.A., where the garments were made (AG is based in South Gate), California fashion fans got a look at the fit and texture of each piece during a Neiman Marcus trunk show. First fan girls gathered at the Beverly Hills department store to shoot hoops against Chung on an arcade-style basketball game. Then Ku and Chung continued to celebrate the collaboration late into the evening at a charmingly relaxed party held inside the John Lautner-designed Sheats-Goldstein house high above Benedict Canyon. Chung sat poolside with pals including Nathalie Love and Gia Coppola as L.A. band Warpaint performed on the concrete deck.

“Alexa approached this project in a really smart way,” said Ku, explaining that Chung figured out what AG does well and designed each piece with the company’s manufacturing strengths in mind. He said that Chung also looked over fabrics, samples, and checked the fit of each item. And Ku confirmed that the new collaboration is more than a one-time affair. For fall, he said Chung is expanding beyond basics to add sweaters, silk tops, and suede designs to the line. “She’s super sharp,” said Ku, calling Chung one of the most quick-witted people he’s met. “It’s all very distinctively her.”

By Elizabeth Varnell

Pictured: Alexa Chung and Samuel Ku at the Alexa Chung for AG launch party held at the Sheats-Goldstein house in Beverly Hills.
Photo By: Stefanie Keenan