New Yrok Collections fall 2013 .. St John

Once upon a time there was a  collection known as St John Knits which was owned and operated by the Grey family; mommy, daddy and overreaching daughter.  The clothes were what can only be described as clothes for women who didn’t want to think or couldn’t figure out how to put an outfit together.  The entire collection was based on Adolfo and Chanel like suits and in time, evolved to a full collection albeit always in that knit which made them famous and very rich.  No matter what the overreaching daughter did by plastering her face all over the advertising proved to be a non-event as the clothes remained the same and the ego of the overreaching daughter was satisfied.

In due time, the company was sold, a couple of Greys are still hanging around and then all of a sudden appeared a man by the George Sharp who,  after several huge missteps within the company involving image and fit, whipped that “old broad” aka St John Knits into this chic tasteful and sophisticated collection that had great retail appeal .  Mr. Sharp took the challenge and ran with it albeit not as long as one had hoped for.  In essence, he raised the bar and set a new direction.

The name of the current designer escapes me at the moment, but no matter … “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING HERE?”  The clothes are harmless and accessorized minimally but what is most striking here is that whoever directed this photo session needs to be taken out and put out of his or her misery.  The models, while certainly attractive enough and well groomed enough, in a Veronica Lake way,  appear to be almost frozen if not dead in their stances and pose, a little more animated would have been nice.  The deer in the headlights moment does nothing to enhance the blandness of the collection.  Now, shall we discuss that it would have been better if the clothes were properly fitted or adjusted for the girls so that they didn’t give the appearance of being ill fitting … duh!   Pants that don’t fit through the crotch and dresses that are too tight across the hips of already emaciated girls is not exactly what dream collections are made of.  St John has always had a substantial accessory business and yet this was all we got.

The take away here is that the foundation was set by the previous designer and now 2 or 3 collections later, the ball has been dropped and that foundation has not been built upon with any sort of memorable results.  In a time when reimagined collections need to attract their latest  clients with beautiful clothes that are simple to understand, St John has missed that boat.  What once was a mainstay of stores like Nordstrom and Bloomingdales and even Saks Fifth Avenue, has morphed into just another pile of clothes with no particular “destination” ... a ship to nowhere!