Mark Cross is an American luxury leather goods brand. Founded in 1845, the company started as a bridle, harness, and saddle maker before shifting to luxury leather goods.
History
Mark Cross opened its doors in Boston in 1845, eventually moving its headquarters to New York. Soon after, employee Patrick Murphy purchased Mark Cross and expanded the product offering to luxury leather goods.
[Cohen, Lisa, ''All We Know: Three Lives'', New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013. ]
Patrick’s son,
Gerald Murphy
Gerald Clery Murphy and Sara Sherman Wiborg were wealthy, expatriate Americans who moved to the French Riviera in the early 20th century and who, with their generous hospitality and flair for parties, created a vibrant social circle, particularl ...
, took over as the company’s president in 1934 after years of living abroad.
Before leading Mark Cross,
he and wife Sara were wealthy expatriates living at
Cap d'Antibes
Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to the northe ...
and forming relationships with many artists and writers of the
Lost Generation
The Lost Generation was the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort that reached early adulthood during World War I, and preceded the Greatest Generation. The social generation is generally defined as people born from 1883 to 1900, ...
.
Gerald’s friendship with
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
led to him to design an overnight case for
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...
’s character in the 1954 movie ''
Rear Window
''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery film, mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes, based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "After-Dinner Story, It Had to Be Murder". Originally released ...
'' - an early example of product placement in film.
Later, one with
Lee Iacocca
Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca ( ; October 15, 1924 – July 2, 2019) was an American automobile executive who developed the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and then reviv ...
led to Mark Cross branding being used on 1980s
Chrysler
FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...
cars equipped with leather upholstery.
After the Murphys sold the business, Mark Cross went through a succession of different ownership until it was shut down in the late 1990s by its then-owner
Sara Lee
Sara may refer to:
People
* Sara (given name), a feminine given name
People with the given name
* Sara Aboobacker (1936–2023), Indian writer and translator
* Sara Ahmed (born 1969), British-Australian writer
* Sara Allgood (1880–1950), Ir ...
. It was purchased by Neal J. Fox and relaunched in 2011, manufacturing its products in the same Italian factories as the company did over 40 years earlier.
References
{{reflist
Leather goods
Luxury brands