St. John Debuts SoCa Boutique for First Stand-Alone Collection
Over the summer, 46-year-old Irvine, Calif.–based fashion house St. John debuted SoCa, the first concept intended to be separate from the iconic St. John parent brand, and on Oct. 23, the company opened the first boutique for the bright, mod-flavored line at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif. While St. John is no stranger to retail, SoCa was meant to pose an alternative to the company’s past.
St. John has long been known for its knit dresses and suits worn by executive women such as attorney Gloria Allred, former first lady Nancy Reagan and Sen. Hillary Clinton. However, after Glenn McMahon joined the company as chief executive officer in September 2007, the fashion house sought to expand its market into younger, more contemporary styles.
“I challenged each of the designers to show me what they thought modern women wanted to wear,” McMahon said of his first initiatives after St. John’s Fall line had shipped in January. One of the designers put together a contemporary line that became SoCa. It was reportedly well received by retailers who saw the line at St. John headquarters later that year, and St. John executives unanimously decided SoCa should be its own concept. By October, the concept was being shipped to department stores such as Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, and its first boutique was opened.
SoCa’s first season has a bright look and a mod style. “It’s very whimsical,” McMahon said. “It gives us the opportunity to let our hair down.” Retail price points for the line, which McMahon also called tailored and refined, range from $395 to $695 for jackets, $195 to $245 for tops and $195 to $395 for pants.
Stand-alone concepts might bring new profits for parent brands, but they also preshy;sent risk. For long-term success, new concepts such as SoCa must develop a clear identity separate from the parent brand, said Liz Pierce, a retail analyst from Newport Beach, Calif.–based Roth Capital Partners. Without a sharp difference in identity, consumers might perceive the secondary concept to be cannibalizing ideas from the parent brand, she said, and the reputation of the parent brand might be tarnished. “They have to live up to the St. John name,” Pierce said. “They have to speak to what St. John stands for.”
McMahon said the differences in identity are sharp. St. John focuses on knits. SoCa offers many woven garments. Although SoCa’s intended consumers start out at age 20, the company’s core demographic is a bit older.
McMahon declined to give any sales forecasts for the line. In 2009, the company will open SoCa boutiques in Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
McMahon said the tone for the initial rollout of SoCa boutiques and the marketing campaign will be low-key. For the first year, there will be no high-profile celebrity advertisements, such as St. John’s splashy campaign with movie star and United Nations goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie, who was hired to be St. John’s spokesperson and model in 2005. Rather, St. John's in-house advertising department will spread the word about SoCa through online marketing in the upcoming year.
The interior of the SoCa boutique at South Coast Plaza was produced by a St. John design team. The Costa Mesa store was intended to have a casual atmosphere. The shop’s main room is meant to look like a private, tasteful living room, McMahon said. SoCa fills the second floor of the two-story boutique, and a St. John shop is located on the first floor. —Andrew Asch
