The last St. John ads featuring movie star Angelina Jolie will appear in May.

Irvine-based St. John inked a three-year contract with the Oscar- winning actress under the previous chief executive who tried to push the luxury clothing label in a more Hollywood direction.

Companies don’t typically ”stick that long with a celebrity,” St. John chairman Jim Kelley said at the label’s fall fashion show Tuesday night at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

For St. John’s next signature face, Kelley said it won’t go with a celebrity, initially. But he added that it may hire a star later.

For now, the “brand needs to move beyond the celebrity,” he said.

There was a lot of press coverage when the company, known for its knit suits, signed a deal with tabloid-favorite Jolie in 2005. And last year, so many rumors flew about St. John firing Jolie that the fashion house issued a statement in September saying the rumor was untrue.

The company will return to using a model, said Glenn McMahon, who arrived at St. John as CEO in September from Dolce & Gabbana USA.

Will it be a supermodel like Gisele Bundchen, St. John’s face before Jolie?

“I don’t know,” McMahon said.

He and Kelley said they haven’t started talking names of potential models yet. Kelley added that it won’t be a no-name person. 

What about Kelly Gray, 41, St. John’s former signature face for almost 25 years before she hung up her modeling pumps in 2005?

“I had a wonderful 20-plus years,” she said after Tuesday’s fashion show. “Let my pumps have a break.”

Gray, St. John’s former creative director, along with her mother and St. John founder Marie Gray, remain consultants to the company created in 1962.

Kelly Gray also has her own high-end edgy clothing line with Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx. But when asked if she would ever go back to St. John full time, she said: “I would do whatever is needed because my parents founded the company and because of Glenn” McMahon.

At the show Tuesday night, CEO McMahon said sales at the St. John boutiques open for at least a year rose more than 25 percent in 2007 vs. 2006. Revenue rose even though the company, like other luxury retail businesses, has been affected by shoppers curbing spending amid a weak economy. 

He declined to give companywide sales for the privately held business, which also sells its pieces in Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus.

For 2008, the company’s goals include adding more stores to its current group of 28 and renovating its existing shops, including its only Orange County location at South Coast Plaza. The company will also add handbags and eyewear next month.

(Left photo is by the Associated Press of actor Brad Pitt and Jolie at last year’s Golden Globes in a St. John gown.)

Related links:

• $1.35 million Tiffany ring bought by O.C. resident
• Brad Pitt or Fido. Who do women pick on Valentine’s Day?
• Kelly Gray teams up with Nikki Sixx
• Kelly Gray gives a glimpse into her life after leaving St. John 

Posted in: Celebrities • South Coast Plaza • St. John |

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