Kelly Gray is Baaack for St. John, but Sadly Not as the Sexy Siren
Who doesn't miss those unintentionally hilarious St. John ads? For two decades, founder Marie Gray's statuesque blonde daughter Kelly cavorted...in South Beach with a bevy of bathing male beauties, on a yacht with gorgeous males, at a masked ball with, yes, masked (but gorgeous) males. And the best one ever - Kelly nonchalantly walking a large leopard (cheetah?) on a leash (there's a reward for anyone who sends in a jpeg scan). After replacing her with Gisele in 2005, followed by three years of Angelina Jolie/Mario Testino, St. John is launching a new look for Fall 2008 using unknowns. This time - sadly - Kelly is working behind the scenes.
"It was a mutual decision to not put Kelly in front of the camera, but she was involved in all aspects of the campaign," CEO Glenn McMahon (formerly the president of Dolce & Gabbana USA until last August) explained in a recent WWD article about his first ad campaign for the massive knitwear company. "We didn't want to look like we were trying to recapture the Kelly Gray ads."
Shot in locales like Central Park and Times Square, the ads appear urban without being excessively NYC-centric, mirroring the company's global marketing push designed to appeal to their far-flung international customer base, which also includes Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, and starting in December, in the UK at Harrods.
The new campaign, which will break in the August Vanity Fair, was photographed by Mark Seliger (Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, GQ, Bebe) "There is a cinematic quality to Mark's work that feels like a film set, and we wanted to combine location and fashion to show where the brand is today — elegant, sophisticated and glamorous," notes Kelly about the new mix of colors, textures, and patterns - in daywear, cocktail & evening. "It felt really editorial, like we were pushing the envelope a bit." (via WWD)
- Lesley Scott
(Mark Seliger St. John ads - via WWD)
|
...& don't miss: |
Comments