A Day in The Life of Stylist and Mom Alexandra Carl

Alexandra Carl has mastered the art of WFH. 

The Danish-born, London-based stylist and fashion director of Rika Magazine is a regular fixture in the street style scene and the brains (and eyes) behind some of the industry's most influential fashion editorials in the pages of LOVE, Vogue and many more glossies. 

It goes without saying that these days, Alexandra is working from home—which is made all the more challenging by the fact that the daily realities of her job now very literally shares space with the demands of parenting. Ahead of Mother’s Day in the UK, we caught up with the mom and Mejuri collaborator to get a peek into a day in her life as she balances family and work (across three different time zones no less) from her London home.

6 AM

My day typically starts around 6 or 6:30 AM when my son Theo wakes up. He’s my alarm these days. I used to spend my early mornings going to boxing or yoga classes but now I make sure he has a good start with a moment of peace before our whirlwind day begins. 

7 AM

My husband Jacob usually makes me tea and we play with Theo and our dog Luna before Theo eats at 7 AM. We have two babies in this family and they both need our attention in the morning. After I’ve fed Theo, we have some more playtime with his little instruments or reading books.

9 AM

When Theo goes for his first nap at 9 AM, it's my hour of free time. I usually take a pilates class or go for a run with Luna in the nature reserve behind our house. I realized how important it is for me to disconnect through my exercise as I feel connected pretty much every other hour of the day working across London, New York and LA. Switching off is really a conscious choice.

When I am done, I have breakfast, usually soft boiled eggs with avocado or quinoa porridge with banana and coconut oil. I like to make drip coffee, my new favourite. I love the slow process of making coffee this way in a world where everything can be made and consumed so fast.

10 AM

Theo has his second breakfast at 10:30 AM and afterwards we go for a walk in the neighborhood. We have so many green spots in this part of London that makes you feel close to nature even when we’re living in the middle of a busy city. 

12 PM

Afterwards at noon, Theo has his lunchtime nap. It’s the time for me to have a solid two hours on emails, catching up on the most urgent timelines for projects I’m working on between design consultancies, editing magazines and other styling jobs in the pipeline. 

Around this time, I’ll have lunch with Jacob. Usually we’ll cook beans with miso, mushrooms and kale (his master dish during lockdown) or an omelet with Danish rye bread—something I really miss from my homeland.

2 PM

When Theo wakes up at 2:30 PM we usually all go for another walk after he’s had his lunch, I don’t like staying inside too long—no matter the weather. We bring Luna to the park nearby and she has a good run playing with her friends from the neighborhood.

4 PM

In the afternoon when Theo sleeps at 4:15 PM, we spend the time reading and writing in our living room. I research for upcoming collections I’m working on through our endless collection of books. We always tell each other not to buy another book until we move to a house with more shelves, but somehow not a week goes by before one of us comes across another enchanting photo book or collection of essays.

6 PM

We turn our phones and emails off and dedicate the next hour to Theo.  We give him a massage before bath time, play him some music and then we read before he goes to bed after eagerly eating his dinner. I sing a song for him (he joins in with what sounds more like baby whale noises) and then leave him to settle. Often Luna is in the bedroom with him until he sleeps and then comes downstairs to join our cooking session. 

7PM

Most evenings we eat vegetarian food consisting of beans, greens and quinoa. Sometimes we add a bit of Omegas with grilled anchovies on the side—we try to eat seasonally and primarily smaller fish that are more sustainable and don’t have a huge footprint.

9PM

After dinner we watch a film (my husband is a filmmaker so we have an endless catalogue of obscure and iconic stuff to watch), or we read on the sofa before we go to bed around 9:30 or 10 PM.