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? :)

Madewell News: How It's Doing & Alexa Chung

Over at Lucky (click here), there is a video of Alexa Chung (at the launch of her line for Madewell during Fashion Week) being interviewed. She is asked several questions, including what is her inspiration & what kind of girl would buy her clothes.

On a related note... J.Crew's CEO Mickey Drexler had a lot to report about Madewell's performance during the last quarter & last fiscal year. Some highlights from the StreetInsider article (click here for its entirety) include the following:

• ...approximately $13 million in losses associated with Madewell, which includes expenses for our e-commerce launch and is essentially flat to 2009, excluding one-time costs related to store closures and impairment charges...
  
• ...We look at the penetration of the J.Crew brand, and Madewell has a potential, and I didn't mention anything about Madewell, because until we see it start to contribute earnings. It's not going to be on top of our we're so excited list. But in the meantime the indication is good. ...
  
• ...Well, we've had an interesting experience with Madewell and we've been kind of very cautious, which again I'm glad to say. We are seeing now every indication that our people like it a lot, customers like it a lot day-by-day. We are going online this summer, and we're pretty pleased about what that looks like. Again, we have a conservative sales plan, but we are - we're actually going to be looking at more stores for 2011, we're going to be a bit more ambitious about that than we've been. But it's - we've seen a lot more consistency in our performance there over the last six months, I'm really happy to say. If you go into our stores today, I think you'll see an assortment that's much more reflective of - starting a new company is really complicated. It's not an exercise that I would recommend to most, although some of us have been there successfully and not successfully, I think, so we're actually committed. We hired Alexa Chung, who - Alexa's been pretty unknown, but for us a muse of sorts for the Madewell brand. So, I think we're really - I don't want to be too optimistic, but we're spending a lot of time in the stores. We're looking at the customers, we're getting a lot of buzz and if you ask frankly a lot of women you know who shop in Madewell, you're going to see a lot more loyalty, higher traffic, a better conversion and price points. And we're becoming quite famous for our boots, our denim, our accessories, our scarves and it's actually nice to see. So I guess more to come in the next three months in terms of reporting. ...
  

It's interesting that Madewell is still under-performing expectations. If I am not mistaken, Madewell has lost money every year since its been under J.Crew's umbrella. I also heard too many times to count now how Madewell was going online (with a fully functioning e-commerce site), to only postpone it. I understand that Madewell is Mickey's baby, and he will do what he can to make it successful like J.Crew. However, I wonder how long investors will continue to support the Madewell brand if it continues to lose money.

Are you a fan of the "Alexa Chung for Madewell" Collection? Did you like (or dislike) her responses in the video? Also, what are your thoughts on Madewell's future? :)

Alexa Chung for Madewell {coming in August!}

As mentioned in the February 16th "Alexa Chung Debuts for Madewell" post, Alexa Chung (model & former MTV host) presented her line of clothes. The following article from HollyScoop (click here) reveals that the line will be available for purchase this August.

Alexa Chung Designs Line for Madewell
By Bridget Daly
March 01, 2010

British model Alexa Chung has just debuted her very own collection for Madewell! The best-dressed female by Vogue has teamed up with the J.Crew-owned company for the line.

She told StyleList at the launch, held at the Bowery Hotel in NYC, "I really love the brand and actually wear it, so it seemed like an easy-peasy choice.”

The collection is reminiscent of our school-girl days—cardigans, velvet shorts, blouses, and jumpers. Chung says Madewell’s “vision is kind of the same as mine. They like laid back styles, they like kind of relaxed clothes — classic, timeless things. So when they asked to collaborate, it was a perfect fit,” she said.

The collection hits Madewell stores in August, and price points begin at $59!

To view additional images of the "Alexa Chung for Madewell" line, click here & here. Also, check it out over at Madewell's Facebook page.

I am curious about this new collection. There are certain pieces that are super cute (like the polka dot dress shown below)!
Are you excited about Alexa Chung's collection over at Madewell? Are there any pieces you are interested in? Will you be getting any of her pieces? :)