Angelina Jolie is being replaced by a fashion model. After a three-year campaign as the face of luxury knitwear giant St. John, the company has announced that they’re replacing the actress because Jolie’s fame has “overshadowed the brand.”
CEO Glenn McMahon explained to Women’s Wear Daily that the move wasn’t personal, saying “We wanted to make a clean break from actresses and steer away from blondes and cleanse the palette.” “We needed to show a modern point of view of St. John,” McMahon continued, “We have evolved.”
However, Jolie’s replacement isn’t just any model. It’s British supermodel Karen Elson, whose claims to fame include her flame-red hair and allowing fashion photographer Steven Meisel to convince her to shave off her eyebrows for a photo shoot.
But, curiously, Elson–like Jolie–is probably most famous for her personal life. In 2005, she married rocker Jack White after knowing him for just a month. The two wed in a ceremony conducted by a shaman in a canoe on the Amazon river.
The couple has two children, Scarlett, who was born in 2006, and Henry, born in 2007. They met when Elson starred in The White Stripes’ video for the song “Blue Orchid.”
Buzz says, “I’d much rather look at an ad with Angelina Jolie – but that’s just me.”
