Alexa Chung didn't want to get "over excited" and "overdo" her Mulberry collaboration.

The 37-year-old beauty wanted to pay homage to the brand's 2010 Alexa - which she inspired - in her new designs for the fashion house while creating something that was fresh and modern, but wouldn't age.

She said: “[I had to] not to get too overexcited and overdo it.

"I wanted a bag that was a more boxy, stiffer, stripped-back ode to the Alexa.

“The original leather was much more supple, soft and of its time, so we decided to bulk it up. And we added a chain instead of a leather strap, to make it more ‘city’ than ‘country’.”

Alexa's two designs, a compact clutch and roomy shoulder bag called the Little Guy and Big Guy, were inspired by the likes of Lauren Hutton and Charlotte Rampling and the movies 'Working Girl' and '9 to 5'.

She told Vogue: “The menswear element was very important to me because that’s how I like my handbags to be."

When she began her modelling career, a Mulberry bag was the first luxury purchase Alexa splashed out on so she will always have a special regard for the fashion house.

She said: “Mulberry was the first handbag I bought myself with the first pay cheque I made as a model, and so it has always been a hugely significant brand to me.

"When I was younger, I thought Mulberry was about as sophisticated, classic, elegant and forever as it got – and I can’t really shift that, because what I thought as a teenager is part of my essence. It’s always been synonymous in my mind with success, treats and heritage.”