St. John Knits Set to Open a New Plant Near Tijuana

Upscale clothier St. John Knits Inc., which takes considerable pride in its “Made in U.S.A.” label, said Tuesday it will open a manufacturing plant in Mexico later this month to cut labor costs.

Initially, the 50,000-square-foot plant just outside Tijuana will make only hardware such as buckles and buttons for the company’s women’s clothing, St. John officials said. Later this year, the Irvine-based company plans to begin manufacturing jewelry in Mexico as well.

Eventually, the plant’s size could double and parts of the clothing could be made or assembled there. But Chief Financial Officer Roger Ruppert said he doubts that St. John’s core knit products will ever be fully manufactured in Mexico.

“One of the cachets about St. John Knit clothing is it says ‘Made in the U.S.A.,’ ” Ruppert said. “Right now, when St. John says ‘Made in the U.S.A.,’ it means it is 100% made here in Southern California. You can stretch that a little bit and still be made in the U.S.A.”

Ruppert said St. John could decide to make the knitted pieces in Irvine and assemble them in Mexico, or use the Mexican workers to attach sequins to dresses, a labor-intensive process.

St. John jewelry is now made in Santa Ana. In the future, work done in the Mexican plant could cut production volume in Santa Ana, Ruppert said.

In addition to manufacturing apparel, St. John also operates 16 retail boutiques and eight outlet stores.