There are many who have never even heard of Mark Cross. And yet, online stockists of the “luxury brand that fashion forgot” report that its distinctive handbags routinely sell out, season after season.
The 172-year-old company has all the trappings of a riches-to-rags-to-resurrection saga worth rooting for: a checkered history, links with the crème de la crème of the literary world, celebrity clients ranging from princesses to pop stars, coups, closures and comebacks. The company was born in Boston in 1845 when Irish immigrant Henry Cross started a saddlery centre named after his son, Mark. Little did he know that the brand would change hands and stance so dramatically, going from making saddles to cigar cases, and harnesses to handbags.
Acquired by businessman Patrick Murphy in the early 1880s, Mark Cross has Murphy's son, Gerald, and heiress daughter-in-law, Sara Sherman Wiborg, to credit for its 1950s heyday and current avatar. The Murphys were known for their vibrant social circle – a best-selling biography, Living Well Is the Best Revenge, tells the tale of the Gatsby-esque parties at their Villa America on the French Riviera, where they hobnobbed with the likes of Picasso, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway and other writers of the Lost Generation. Fitzgerald even modelled around them the characters of Dick and Nicole Diver in his novel Tender Is the Night.
The Great Depression of 1929 may have depleted their resources, but not their resolve, and the Murphys returned to America, where Gerald extended the brand to include wallets, cigar holders and handbags made with the finest Italian leather and often in collaboration with jeweller Seaman Schepps. Good friend Alfred Hitchcock featured a glossy black Mark Cross women's travelling case in his 1954 film Rear Window, a design that proved so popular for the next 30 years that it sparked the rage for the brand's current best-selling range, Grace, named for the film's much-loved leading lady, Grace Kelly.
The downfall began after Gerald’s death, when conglomerate Sara Lee, which also owned Coach, took over in the 1990s with the intention of relaunching Mark Cross, but ended up reselling to an investment firm that let it fade into near oblivion. In 2010, one of the investors, Neal Fox, resurrected the Mark Cross name. A first collection displayed at Barneys in 2012 sold out within weeks.
Mark Cross is now almost fully synonymous with the Grace range. The brand’s spring 2017 lookbook features the Grace Mini Box in shades of yellow, lilac, raspberry pink (pictured) and butterscotch; the Grace Small Box in petal green, pale pink and white, as well as with tie-dye prints; and the Grace Large Box in black, nude, denim, cornflower and 18K gold-plated brass. A separate travel collection includes the Grace Trunk in black or soft orange; and a Trolley bag in acorn, black and navy blue. Crafted from exquisite calf, lamb or crocodile leather, the bags are made in the same Italian factory that the Murphys favoured all those decades ago. Prices start from US$2,000 and go up to $25,000 (up to Dh92,000).
See more Mark Cross bags here.
With fans such as Suki Waterhouse, Alexa Chung, Taylor Swift and Harley Viera-Newton, Mark Cross bags are steadily becoming the go-to choice of in-the-know street-style icons. Not one to shy away from the free-spiritedness of its former owners, designs also include kitschy peace signs, Super Mario mushrooms and planetary positions. Mark Cross bags are available online at Net-a-porter and Matches Fashion.
Read this and more stories in Luxury magazine, out with The National on Thursday, March 2.
pmunyal@thenational.ae
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Get Out
Director: Jordan Peele
Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
Four stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
UAE players with central contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
More from Armen Sarkissian
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
