California Apparel News

For St. John, the venerable knitwear company founded in 1962, the last year has been a time of evolution.

Glenn McMahon has barely been at the company for 12 months, but already the new chief executive has rolled out a number of changes to help the company reach a 2009 goal of $400 million in annual revenues. The company, however, would not reveal current revenues.

One of his first tasks was to find a replacement for celebrity model Angelina Jolie, who for three years was the well-known face in all of St. John’s advertisements, which appeared in slick fashion magazines around the world. Her contract expired in May.

Instead of employing a superstar persona to represent St. John, McMahon opted to hire classically beautiful models to advertise the line of elegant knit suits, evening dresses, sportswear and day looks, which sell at price points that start in the hundreds and average around $1,000 to $2,000 a piece.

Jolie, who at the time was making headlines with her romance with movie star Brad Pitt, was the much-talked-about image of St. John. But McMahon felt it would be better to go with a lower dose of Hollywood glitz and concentrate on the company’s high-end products, which sell at department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom.

“There was great brand awareness because of Angelina. St. John was on the radar. But the flip side is we spent a lot of money promoting Angelina Jolie, and now we’re spending a lot of money promoting the brand,” said McMahon, who joined St. John last Sept. 1.

Up next was hiring an East Coast designer to bring some freshness to St. John’s wide array of products. That designer was British-born George Sharp, who was appointed executive vice president of design for St. John earlier this year. Previously he was vice president of design for Ellen Tracy, a post he held since April 2005 at the New York company, which was owned by Liz Claiborne Inc. In February, Ellen Tracy was sold to a group of investors.

Marie Gray, who founded the company with her husband, Bob, is still working hard as a design consultant, as is her daughter, Kelly, who for many years acted as St. John’s principal model.

Sharp was front and center at the recent July 22 fashion show at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, where the company’s Spring 2009 looks unfolded on the runway. In the past, the design team was headed by Maria Lopez, who in June resigned as vice president of design.

Sharp said he came to St. John because he saw “huge opportunity” in working for the company, which is still trying to lure new, young customers while maintaining its core of loyal shoppers, who tend toward the label’s more conservative offerings.

McMahon credits Sharp with some of the newer looks showcased on the catwalk that incorporated a fresh color palette and innovative knitwear textures and designs not developed before by the company.

“George has partnered up with the technical team. There is so much innovation and ingenuity in what we are doing in knitwear. Since he has come with a new set of eyes, he doesn’t know the boundaries,” the chief executive said. “In this economy, you have to give your customer a reason to buy.”

St. John in the past has invested heavily in knitwear machines housed inside its large headquarters in Irvine, Calif. Nearly all of St. John’s apparel is made in Orange County.

St. John, like any apparel company, is looking for new markets and new ways to make money. The company has seen sales in Asia grow rapidly to the point they now make up a little more than 10 percent of the company’s revenues, said St. John President and Chief Operating Officer Bruce Fetter, who has been with the company for years.

With the relative cheapness of the U.S. dollar compared with the euro, St. John is pushing sales in Europe. In December, the venerable Harrods department store in London will add a 4,000-square-foot in-house section dedicated to St. John apparel.

In addition, St. John will open a 2,500-square-foot store in Naples, Fla., in November and is looking for new store locations for future outlets. “Despite a difficult economy, we are holding our own,” McMahon said.