St. John F/W 05.06 : Gisele Bundchen by Mario Testino

[kimair]

very interesting...she does not seem very "st. john" to me...from fwd:

She’s been sultry for Dolce & Gabbana, sexy for Valentino, not to mention a revealing angel for Victoria’s Secret. Now The Daily has learned that Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen has scored another coup as the new face of St. John.

IMG model Bundchen replaces the 43-year old company’s creative director Kelly Gray, who has starred in the campaign for the last 22 years. The images, to appear beginning in September books, are being photographed today by Mario Testino and styled by Camilla Nickerson in the Hollywood Hills. It remains unclear as to whether Kelly Gray and St. John designer Marie Gray will stay with the company as word had it that the duo would exit this September.

According to information released, the ad’s creative direction takes inspiration not far from its company headquarters in Irvine, California. The focus is on the ease and spaciousness of native California, as seen under the bright lights of Hollywood. “California is where it begins. The wide-open spaces, the sunshine, and the infinite possibilities, Gisele is the personification of those things,” said David Lipman, of the Lipman Agency, who was brought in to provide strategic counsel in the redirection of consumer perception of the brand. “That’s what St. John is about and that is the energy that we are capturing with this new ad campaign. We are thrilled to have her on board.”

This announcement is among the first of what is sure to be a series of major moves made by chief executive officer Richard Cohen, who joined the company in the fall of 2004. Hoping to unveil a fresh look and new feel for the label, this ad campaign is the spearhead of a new corporate strategy and positioning.

 

[Plastic'sWife]

wow!
I love Gisele, but I always liked that St John was classic with Gray as its only model..

 

[modelmama]

This could be interesting.

 

[testinofan]

Great Nwes thanks

 

[mademoiselle_]

Im sure their going to be great ads!

 

[liberty33r1b]

oh thanks god, they finally replace kelly gray!
gisele is a perfect choice, if not the best......

 

[Tinuviel]

she does not seem very "st. john" to me...from fwd:

ditto

 

[Urban Stylin]

i always thought the label was targeted for thr country club bridge playing millionairess. the somewhat conservative clothes, boy toys and even the face. unless they are doing a whole image change. one thing that made them stand out though was the way theu defied the odds of age and size with kelly gray

 

[Meg]

I totally agree Urban, I liked that the model defined typical norms of advertising and I'm not sure I can even picture St.John without kelly gray as the model. To me she IS st.john...though the new model might open up their customer base so we shall see

 

[sapphireskies]

ditto

I don't see it at all either.

 

[Mr-Dale]

Umm.... St. John?

 

[rhiannonmars]

I thought St. John was for "old ladies"? I'm pretty surprised to see a model that young with them.

 

[MulletProof]

i cant even remember what a st. john ad looks like. meh.

 

[StyleIsInUs]

I'm suprised, too! I don't like St. John, but Gisele is so pretty, so ads will be GORG.!

 

[DuTTyRoCK112]

st. john reminds me of paris hilton for some reason

 

[Melanie Jane]

Maybe they are just trying to 'liven up' the brand.

 

[Nader]

this will be very interesting... I think tegan dearing would have been a good choice (she rocked the Marlowe ads)

 

[alouisa]

oh thanks god, they finally replace kelly gray!
gisele is a perfect choice, if not the best......

I too am happy to see Kelly Gray replaced

 

[scblonndie]

My grandma shops at St. John..

 

[kimair]

more on the new st. john ads from wwd...

As the long-time face of St. John, Kelly Gray placed herself in some pretty exotic situations.

King Kong, a mafia clan and a battalion of gladiators, however, did not factor into the jet-set lifestyle of the brand’s ads during Gray’s 22-year reign in them.

But as the Irvine, Calif.-based brand enters a new phase, with its $5 million campaign starring Gisele Bündchen that will break in September, the brand is striking out in the kind of dramatic fashion that makes it clear where the company is from — and where it’s going.

“Everything is about positioning the brand as an American luxury house,” said David Lipman, chief of New York-based ad agency Lipman. “It’s based on this California-centric world. Hollywood is the sizzle and California is the soul.”

The Lipman agency was hired last fall and was given the mission of overhauling the company’s image as part of its repositioning strategy.

Bündchen is from Brazil, but Lipman is quick to note that she “is now in L.A.; she’s somewhat of a starlet.” As the on-again-off-again-on-again girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio (she attended the Academy Awards with him this year), she certainly sees her share of the red carpet.

“It was important to have someone with a bigness of personality who could deliver that theatrical side to the campaign,” Lipman said. “No matter what you have to say about Kelly Gray [daughter of company founders Robert and Marie Gray] in those ads all these years, she has a theatrical side, and I respect that. Replacing that face of 20 years is not easy. But Gisele could do it, and that was an important first step.”

And nothing says theatrical more than a story of a glamorous Hollywood actress hard at work both behind the scenes and on set. Based on the idea of film outtakes, the dozen images were photographed in mid-June by Mario Testino and styled by Camilia Nickerson at a private home in Hollywood.

In the images, Bündchen appears seated on a sofa in a snug-fitting paillette-studded sweater and pencil skirt, reviewing a script with a director. In another, she’s seated in a director’s chair. The script is still in hand as she stands at a marble stairwell in an evening gown, with an extra dressed in a gorilla costume holding his costume’s head.

and some pics (sorry so small...it's what was on the wwd site)