Chai Circle: Alexa Manzano

Chai Circle is a new editorial space within The Lazy Chai: a quiet, curated corner for conversations with women whose style feels instinctive, lived in, and impossible to copy. Here, we explore the rituals, references, moods, and aesthetics that shape how they move through the world.It’s not about trends. It’s about essence. A deeper look into the girls who inspire quietly; the ones with taste, curiosity, and their own visual language.

Welcome to the circle.

For our first Chai Circle muse, we turn to Alexa Manzano: a model and stylist whose aesthetic feels effortless, sharp, and instinctively cool.She’s the kind of woman you notice without knowing why: undone in the right places, intentional in the rest. Her style reads like intuition. Her presence, like a mood you can’t quite name but instantly recognize.

Shot on my Olympus X-815, Alexa opens this series with the perfect balance of edge, simplicity, and personal mythology.

How would you describe your style in three words?

Effortless, cool, messy.

When did you start feeling like you found “your style”?

When I moved to New York. It opened my perspective to so many different styles, but it also gave me the opportunity to try new things without feeling judged or observed. I loved sitting for hours at restaurants in Soho watching people walk by, analyzing what they were wearing and imagining their personalities through their clothes. That’s when I realized that clothing communicates so much about who you are.

I think that more than having a specific defined style, it’s about how each piece makes me feel. I know I have a base, but I’d say that “finding my style” was when I realized I feel like myself in what I wear, whether it all matches or not. I only care that it makes me feel right.

What inspires you when you get dressed? (people, cities, eras, etc.)

I love seeing how people dress, but I don’t think they actually inspire me when I’m getting dressed, because everyone has their own style based on who they are. But I’ve realized that when I travel, my style completely shifts depending on the city, all different, but still obviously coming from the same essence. I love pairing that with the music I’m listening to that day. It aligns naturally without me overthinking it. They’re two ways of expressing how I feel in the moment. But I always aim to look cool.

What do you wear when you want to feel most “you”?

Light wash jeans, a white tee, tons of accessories, shoes and a bag that really stand out, and a special jacket. I always need at least one piece that brings life to everything or three, even better. Depending on how I want to feel, I only change those elements, not the base.

And when you don’t know what to wear?

Exactly the same as the question above.

I think everything is in the accessories and the shoes. I don’t need to change much. But having a solid base is essential. “Less is more”… except for accessories: more is more.

How would you like people to perceive you through your clothes?

As someone with good taste. Simple, but with special pieces. Someone who dresses for herself. Someone who simply is simple, but never indifferent or forgettable.More than being perceived a certain way, I want people with similar interests to be able to notice it from how I look, for it to catch the attention of the right people. I want them to be able to read me a little through my clothes. I like the idea of being judged.

Which item or accessory in your closet has the most history?

I don’t really have anything with a story, only fine jewelry I’ve received as gifts or inheritance. It’s special, but it doesn’t have my personal history in it.But I do think there are pieces people associate with me: a gold leather shirt, slides, tons of jewelry, my Balenciaga City bag.

A perfume that feels like it defines you?

Perfume is ESSENTIAL to me. People around me know I have a specific scent that matches my personality and my style. I love using the same perfume for a long time because I think it’s a way of leaving a mark and I never give out the names.

I have two that truly define me and feel completely “me”: CHAMO by Tamburins and Intoxicated No.1 by Kilian.

If your style were a movie or character, which one would it be?

Honestly, I have no idea. My friends say I’d be a vampire lol.

Who is your style muse or fashion spirit?

Kate Moss; in personality, style, everything. I swear we’re the same lol.

What song or playlist would be the soundtrack of your style?

Eminence Front by The Who, obviously.Or lowkey Me Pregunto by Belanova.

And the playlist would be my own: How Life Sounds Like.

What does “dressing well” mean to you?

Dressing well isn’t just dressing how you like or according to your personality that’s something else. Dressing well means showing you have taste, and that is of course part of your personality.For me, it’s visual coherence, good taste; something you’re born with but also something you train the eye for. It’s worldliness, culture. Not everyone has it, and the ones who do develop it in so many ways, which is why it’s special and unique.

Finish the sentence: My style is…

My essence made tangible.