St. John brings back old style

Call it a failed experiment.

After an attempt to skew the St. John brand to a younger customer failed to jell with its knitwear-suit-wearing loyals, the company’s original founders are returning to their design roles at the $400-million Irvine-based brand, which counts Hillary Rodham Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Gloria Allred as fans. Marie Gray, co-founder, and her daughter Kelly Gray, who was the face of the pre-Angelina Jolie ad campaigns, are both back and acting as creative consultants.

In 2005, the old guard was replaced by new designers and executives, but customers complained about the sexier fit and trendier approach. Jim Kelly, chairman of St. John and president of Vestar Capital Partners, told Women’s Wear Daily, “We lost our way with the product. We’ve got our business back on track. Things are proceeding really well.”

-- Melissa Magsaysay