LEGACY LEADERSHIP: Model Marie Gray founded St. John Knits in 1962 with her husband Robert out of the family’s garage after buying herself a flatbed knitting machine to design dresses for herself. She started St. John with one knit dress and grew the brand based on her vision for sophisticated, versatile women’s fashion while Robert sold the first outfits to department stores. Marie Gray stayed on as chief designer for 40 years, also known for inventing St. John’s signature “Santana” fabric. Son Mike joined in 1970s when it was doing $2M in annual sales. Grew to 5,000 employees, most in Irvine, and reached peak of $400M in annual sales. Mike was president for five years in 1990s followed by sister Kelly.
HQ: Anaheim
OC SIGNIFICANCE: Established Orange County as a place for luxury fashion outside NY and LA and is the oldest continuously operating American luxury knitwear house.
DEFINING MOMENT: St. John Knits moved from North Hollywood and set up its headquarters and manufacturing in Irvine in 1971.
BY THE NUMBERS: After going public in 1993, the Grays sold a majority stake of St. John to New York’s Vestar Capital Partners in a 1999 deal and took it private. China’s Fosun International later took a majority stake in the retailer in 2017 and spun it off into a new division now known as Lanvin Group. The luxury retailer generated 78M euros (USD$92M) in annual revenue from 42 boutiques. St. John currently operates out of an 85,000-square-foot building in Anaheim with 125 employees. Price tags start at $600 and can well above $2,000.
QUOTABLE: “When we are working with our same very loyal client, we want her to have pieces now in her closet that her granddaughter or her daughter will want to steal.” —CEO Mandy West
FUN FACT: St. John is known for outfitting notable, affluent women from First Ladies such as Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton to modern celebrities and executives, from actress Angelina Jolie to television showrunner Shonda Rhimes. Marie Gray even had her own dressing room at the White House for a time.
