Pepe Jeans reveals new autumn 2010 campaign featuring Alexa Chung and Jon Kortajarena

Back for her second season as the face of Pepe Jeans London, celebrity TV presenter and fashion-forward model Alexa Chung gets to grips with the Autumn 2010 collection with a little help from the hottest property in male modeling, Jon Kortajarena.

The latest Pepe Jeans London campaign finds the Brit-born denim brand returning to Notting Hill’s Portobello Road, the birthplace of the brand, with a photo story which celebrates the brand’s British roots.

Joining super-chic trendsetter Alexa Chung in front of the camera are 21 year-old French model Gaspard Menier and fashion’s most in-demand male model, 25-year old Jon Kortajarena.

Since being discovered eight years ago sitting on the spectator side of the runway by a scout at Spanish Fashion Week, Kortajarena has been at the centre of a fashion whirlwind since first leaving his home in Bilbao aged just 17.

Likened in looks to French actor Anthony Delon, Kortajarena is the only male model to have appeared across 200 pages of the same issue of bi-annual French fashion bible L’Officiel Hommes. Later that year in 2008 Kortajarena was the face of five major fashion campaigns at a single time. His career took a stella turn last year, when he appeared in Tom Ford’s critically acclaimed directorial film debut A Single Man, alongside Colin Firth who won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie.

Set against the backdrop of Portobello’s streets, cafes and record stores, the Autumn 2010 Pepe Jeans London shoot brings together a creative team made up almost exclusively of British talent. Directing the models is creative director Tom Hingston. Famed for his high-gloss advertising work with fashion brands as well as his graphics-led cover art for music stars including Robbie Williams and Massive Attack, Hingston swaps his ultra-polished trademark style for the realist aesthetic which informs the latest Pepe Jeans London shoot.

When it came to selecting the right photographer to capture the group shots, London photographer Josh Olins was drafted in. Renowned for his slick compositions of traditionally tricky group shots, Olins delivered a clean, retro-tinged theme set against an urban backdrop.

Styling duties were given to another Londoner, Clare Richardson, whose name has become synonymous with edgy editorial-led fashion stories, and whose resumé includes styling gigs with V Man, WWD,Mixte and Man About Town, among others.

Behind The Scenes: Pepe Jean Spring 2010 fashion shoot with Alexa Chung

Ever wondered what it's like to be in the middle of a fashion shoot. Well, take a look at this behind-the-scenes footage shot during our latest spring 2010 shoot with Alexa Chung.

Thrust into the fashion spotlight aged just 16 Alexa carved out a reputation as an in-demand model long before turning her talents towards TV presenting. Gaining notoriety as much for her maverick take on fashion as her sharp-witted on-screen style, Chung quickly gathered a cult following through Channel 4’s Sunday music show, Popworld. And the rest, as they say, is history. 

Chung is the modern day It Girl, with handbags named after her and her very own rock'n'roll slice of arm-candy in the shape of Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner. Last year, Chung was even awarded the trophy for Most Stylish Woman In The World by Vogue, and both the Glamour Magazine Award and Elle Style Award for Best TV Presenter.

Since Bruce Weber shot Jason Priestley for our infamous 1993 ad campaign, Pepe Jeans London has been as meticulous in selecting the hottest fashion photographers to work behind the lens as it has been in identifying the next big celebrity talents to appear in front of the camera. 
The latest ad campaign is shot by celebrated fashion photographer Tom Munro who since the mid-1990s has become renowned for his directional fashion shoots for the world’s most respected fashion magazines including American Vogue, Italian Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar,Numéro and Details. Most recently, Munro played a pivotal role in the restructuring of US Elle.

The campaign was styled by sisters Alexa and Patti Wilson, with Alexa Chung appearing alongside two of today’s most recognisable male models, Tom Guinness and Boyd Holbrook.

Summer 2010 Trends: Blue on Black denim

Ignore traditional style advise - blue on black is definitely one of the hottest looks for the summer. It's been bubbling under for a while now and has been as relevant for dapper chaps combining black knits with inky blue suits, as it has been for catwalk queens mixing floaty black tops with sludgy blue peg leg pants.

The influence for Pepe Jeans comes straight from the streets of Camden where indie-rock urchins like T4 presenter Nick Grimshaw (pictured left), have been combining beaten-up, size-too-small denim jackets and shirts with black skinny jeans for the last 12 months.

Avoid raw denim or dark indigo jackets for this look, as it's all about getting the contrast right. So, go for a mid-blue denim top (whether it's a chambray shirt or a trucker jacket) and match it with a pair of black or slightly washed-out black jeans, the skinnier the better.

At Pepe we're loving this season's black Pixie jean (see main picture of Alexa above) which has all the proportions of a jegging but with the silhouette and detailing you'd expect from a five-pocket jean.