14 DAY TRIAL // High-end clothing brand St. John has officially replaced Angelina Jolie as the face for the Spring 2010 campaign that was just recently launched. Though the departure had been announced as early as June 2008, it’s only now that St. John explains why it had to take place: Jolie was simply overshadowing the brand, Reuters says.
It’s not uncommon for celebrities to endorse fashion brands or, for that matter, anything from shampoo to accessories and even food brands. What is uncommon, though, is for a brand to end such a partnership on the grounds that the celebrity in question is doing more damage to the campaign by being “too famous.” However, this is precisely the case of Angelina Jolie and St. John, with the latter believing it needed to distance itself from the actress.
“St. John this week launched a new spring 2010 print advertising campaign starring British model Karen Elson, 30, a redhead who is married to White Stripes singer Jack White. Absent from the promotion, was Hollywood superstar Jolie, 34, who was hired by St. John as its public face in 2005,” Reuters says citing a People report. Though the departure was announced in 2008, no explanation was given at the time as to what might have prompted it. This inevitably led industry people to assume that it was Jolie who no longer desired it but, as it turns out, that was not the case.
“St. John chief executive Glenn McMahon told Women’s Wear Daily she ‘overshadowed the brand. We wanted to make a clean break from actresses and steer away from blondes and cleanse the palette.’ Separately, McMahon said in a statement that ‘we needed to show a modern point of view of St. John. We are evolving the brand,’” Reuters further says, again citing ongoing reports in the media.
As far as Angelina is concerned, she needn’t worry about the money she won’t be making now that St. John put an end to the partnership, we might as well add. A report from December ’09 looking at the kind of salary female stars commanded in the same year clearly indicates that she remains the highest paid actress in Hollywood, despite nay-sayers arguing she might have lost some of her initial appeal. In 2009, Jolie earned an estimated $20 million per movie, plus a percentage of the film’s international gross.