Alexa Chung Turns The Skirt Suit Inside Out

Britain’s eternal It girl in London’s most talked about young fashion label? Last night, Alexa Chung turned the traditional skirt suit set inside out and on its head in a deconstructed Dilara Findikoglu two-peice set. The occasiona, of course, was the always-chic annual Serpentine Summer Party at Kensington Gardens.

Chung’s mottled cream, gray, and nude-toned set featured a long-sleeved jacket with a high neckline and triangular cutout hem, as well as a matching mid-length skirt. With a silhouettes augmented by unexpected padding placement and corsetry boning, with flurishes of intentional wrinkling, fraying, and distressing, the suit appeared to show the rough interior construction of unfinished garments.

True to Findikoglu’s penchant for Victorian references and states of undress, Chung’s corseted jacket was secured along the front with a row of small, silver hook-and-eye clasps—another detail that would traditionally be hidden to create a seamless form. The set was finished with a corseted skirt back, cinched by a thin silk bow.

To complete her garden party attire, Chung toted a coordinating cream version of Findikoglu’s Hysteria bag, prominently clasped at the front with a gleaming silver lock. A set of glossy clear-strapped mules with angular heels finished her look with a slick edge—fitting for one of the hallmark it-girls of indie sleaze fashion.

Chung’s Findikoglu ensemble showed an entirely different side to the skirt suit by highlighting the garment’s interior construction. Indeed, though stars from Jodie Turner-Smith to Michaela Coel have worn iterations spanning a range of colors and textures this year, we haven’t seen a fully flipped-out style quite like this one. Indeed, it appears that even the most traditional silhouettes are always ripe for reinvention—especially in ways you don’t expect.