Michael St John

Michael St John is a fashion junkie, from the tip of the finger on which he perches his thimble, holds a pencil or types on his laptop, through to his intensely curious and receptive mind. He has been, to date, a creative director, designer, a lecturer and educator, a journalist and trend forecaster. Early in his career, a British fashion journalist once wrote about him as being “A Button from Fame” which has been quite a heavy burden to carry through his long and varied life in fashion. The button was either too big for the buttonhole or fame was something he needed to desire more than his work for that particular prediction to become reality.

Starting as an apprentice tailor at Anderson & Sheppard was the moment when he exchanged the blood running through his veins for silk thread. From this unforgettable beginning and having learned how to cut and sew, he opened his own atelier in Mayfair, London in partnership with his very first customer, celebrity hairdresser Vidal Sassoon. He went on to create clothes for Paul McCartney, Peter O’Toole, Itzhak Perlman and Cliff Richard, among others. At this time he also designed costumes for the stars of several movies, most of whom were his bespoke customers.

Developing a business for the Marlboro’ fashion brand in partnership with a Formula 1 champion driver, he moved to Italy and built their leisurewear brand based in Milan. At a time when Italian designers were dominating the world, Michael was intoxicated by the scope and variety of the textile industry. Creating brands, designing collections and eventually providing a full service creative strategy business, Michael opened offices in Los Angeles and London too.

Working with his talented team of fashion, graphic and print designers for a variety of international brands like Calvin Klein intimates and jeans, Lycra marketing, Speedo performance swimwear, Seibu menswear and Goldwyn skiwear and active sports, he was able to expand his awareness and knowledge of many different fashion sectors. To date his companies have provided services for over 100 brands. One particular milestone was the technical study of what became the Olympic winning ‘fastsuit’ and which became the new standard for swimmers.

It was during this period that requests started to come in for Michael to give lectures at fashion colleges in Italy, Japan, London and USA, which in turn started his endeavours into the world of journalism. It was certainly all down to his vast experience that brought these institutions and publications to his door. It was the storytelling that fascinated them. Michael became a guest contributor to Zoom on Fashion Trends, which lasted for ten years, where he had a four page section addressing the influences that social changes have on fashion design and consumer marketing trends. He quickly became adept at writing interesting articles with the help of his wife Jane, who edited his texts. He also wrote pieces for Chinese and Japanese journals.

His lectures became a roadmap for his decision to look for ways to give back something to the industry he had enjoyed so much, by helping young people experience fashion and enrich their lives. He started a vocational fashion course for an Italian education group that offers career learning along with standard studies to high school age students. Michael set up the course and taught one day per week for over 4 years, until the first intake graduated.

After a lifetime of participating in the world of fashion, a world that is of such importance on the one hand and frivolity on the other, Michael continues to take on new challenges, or as he sees them, adventures.