Inside Madewell Fashion Maven's NYC Home

"Thanks!" to Marisa & Ashley, as well as spockcookbook (in this post), who shared the following article about Madewell's Marketing Director, Gigi Guerra, from Refinery 29 (click here to read the entire article & to view all the great photos).

A Chic Peek At Madewell Maven Gigi Guerra's Pad
By Christene Barberich & Piera Gelardi
Photos By Kava Gorna
May 19, 2010

Chances are, you're probably just as big a fan of Madewell's quirky-chic style staples as we are. Smart-fitting jeans, great I-can't-believe-it's-not-Margiela knit jackets, and way too many dangerously good pairs of shoes to count. Surprise! One of the brilliant minds behind this label we wanna live in, marketing director, Gigi Guerra, just happens to be a former editor at Lucky and one of our longtime gurus of personal style and a certain sort of off-beat chic…times a hundred. Naturally, we were super psyched when she invited us to her home on the Lower East Side, which is pretty much like one big, carnival of sartorial surprises. Vintage, designer, random ephemera from Guerra's travels all over the world…it's all here, but it's how she makes it work so effortlessly and with such a wink of fun that really enchants us. ...

Describe your personal style in three words:
"Spontaneous, affordable, mash-up."

What's your secret weapon, the thing you turn to in a pinch to bring a look together?
"In winter it's black tights. In summer, Madewell jean shorts. Year-round, it's a cluster of mismatched vintage brooches and stick-pins."

Tell us about working with Alexa Chung on her forthcoming Alexa Chung for Madewell line. How did you two collaborate and how did you decide to bring her on board?
"All of us at Madewell are huge fans of Alexa's. Her personal style is just so intuitive and individual and inspiring—she really does her own thing. I feel her brain is always exploding with ideas: When she was on vacation she faxed us some sketches of T-shirt illustrations, and those exact ones ended up going into production, literally straight from the fax."

Any exciting new Madewell products or news in the works?
"The biggest news is that you'll be able to shop Madewell online early next month at www.madewell.com. I can't wait! Absolutely everything in the line will be there, and if you want to find out exactly when it's all happening, sign up for emails now at the site. The Alexa Chung for Madewell collection will be there, too, when it launches this fall. I'm going to live in it all. Also, we're launching a partnership with Shareen Vintage, an amazing (and wallet-friendly) vintage dealer out of L.A., in mid-June. The L.A. Madewell will stock the collection, which was handpicked with Shareen and our design team, as will the NYC Madewell. Most of my vintage comes from her, so I'm super excited."

On a related note, "thanks!" to Jenn who shared the following news with us: "just called J.Crew for a customer service inquiry and while on hold they noted that Madewell.com would be launching online shopping on June 1, 2010". Can't wait to see Madewell's new e-commerce site! (Although I have been saying that for years now!) ;)

What are your thoughts on the article? Did you like Gigi's style & take? Are you excited about Madewell's online arrival? :)