For St. John’s fall winter 2024 collection, Enrico Chiarparin took notes from two decades: the 1960s and the 1990s.
The former is a particularly formative one for the American brand. In 1962, Marie Gray started to make matching knit dresses for herself to wear while working as a model in Los Angeles. Soon enough, they were sold at Saks Fifth Avenue. “I looked at the archive—there is alway lot of inspiration coming from those years,” Chiarparin said. He decided to intertwine the mod codes of the ’60s sixties with the muted, minimalist ones of the ’90s: “We wanted to pair something a little bit more polished with something a little bit more utilitarian,” he said.
What did that look like, exactly? Think a white, boxy suit jacket with jewelry-like crystal buttons, suede minidresses with flared skirts, midi dresses that can be fitted to a feminine hourglass or androgynous slouch depending on how tight one prefers the belt. The signature tweed sets come in sparkling silver and gold. Meanwhile, a camel dress with a ribbed knit top felt like it could be worn by the disciples of Twiggy and Carolyn Kennedy. “We love to try to mix the masculine and the feminine,” said Chiarparin.
Speaking of knits: the brand’s mastery of the material was on full display. A mocha brown knit dress was a clear standout, as was a gold sequin tweed knit column gown with a scoop chain neckline. (Indeed, after its display in New York City for Fashion Week, it’s on its way to award season fittings in Los Angeles.)
When it came to other textiles, the results were slightly more mixed: a leather set, for example, presented as a little too bulky. Yet a moss green safari jacket felt like quintessential American sportswear.
Stylist Karla Welch served as a creative consultant on this collection—a partnership that first began in 2022. “We work very well together,” Chiarparin said. “It’s been good. Very good.” Considering the brand is opening a flagship store in Manhattan later this year and has recently found celebrity fans in Jessica Chastain and Kristen Stewart, it’s hard not to agree.