Not Your Mother's St. John

The St. John woman may be classy, sure, but after this season, she's become downright foxy. At St. John’s fall presentation at its Fifth Avenue showroom Wednesday, there was nary a pantsuit in sight—just plenty of sequins, satin, and fur. The line's metamorphosis is the third and most aggressively fashion-forward collection presented by creative director George Sharp, who wanted to update St. John without abandoning the line's reputation for wearable elegance. "The St. John woman is every woman," Sharp told Newsweek's Karen Fragala Smith. "She's effortlessly chic without trying too hard." Sharp's recipe for glitz without gauche is all about juxtaposition: a formal evening gown made of gray flannel, a simple cardigan trimmed with sequins and fox fur, a white tee in satin. Sharp limited the palette to mostly earth tones, with a few jewel-toned silk dresses and pantsuits. The collection also featured a new collaboration with jewelry designer Neville Ward whose chunky necklaces look great with the line's spare silhouette.