Stephen Anthony Solomon Marks (born 23 May 1946) is a British fashion retailer and founder, chairman and chief executive of the

French Connection The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada, sometimes through Cuba. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, an ...

brand.Chris Blackhurst
'The Big Interview: Stephen Marks'
''London Evening Standard'', 26 May 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2013.

Early life and career

Stephen Anthony Solomon Marks was born in

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

, north London, the son of Jewish hairdressers and went to the local

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...

. He was a promising tennis player as a teenager, playing at

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

's old club Herga and winning a junior prize at Wimbledon. Marks began working as a salesman for the coat-maker Andre Peters and French fashion designer

Louis Féraud Louis Féraud (13 February 1921 – 28 December 1999) was a French fashion designer and artist. In 1950, Louis Féraud created his first "Maison de Couture" in Cannes and by 1955 had established a couture house in Paris on 88, Rue du Faubourg Sa ...

, before setting up Stephen Marks London in the late 1960s to produce his own suit and coat designs. Marks had already ventured into

wholesaling Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

, earning the nickname 'the

hotpants Hotpants or hot pants are extremely short shorts. The term was first used by ''Women's Wear Daily'' in 1970 to describe shorts made in luxury fabrics such as velvet and satin for fashionable wear, rather than their more practical equivalents th ...

king' after spotting the trend for short shorts in Paris and importing stock to sell in

Miss Selfridge Miss Selfridge is a British fashion brand and former high street store chain which began as the young fashion section of Selfridges department store in London in 1966. It was part of the Arcadia Group, controlled by Sir Philip Green, which we ...

French Connection

Marks established the French Connection women's label in 1972 – a year after the film of the same name was released. The name reportedly came about because, via a business contact in France, he managed to acquire 3,000 Indian

cheesecloth Cheesecloth is a loose-woven gauze-like carded cotton cloth used primarily in cheesemaking and cooking. Grades Cheesecloth is available in at least seven different grades, from open to extra-fine weave. Grades are distinguished by the numb ...

shirts that could be resold in the UK at a large profit. By 1975,

Nicole Farhi Nicole Farhi, Lady Hare, CBE (born 25 July 1946) is a former French fashion designer, now sculptor born in Nice, France. Life Born in France Farhi is the daughter of Sephardic Jews from Turkey Her father sold rugs and lighting. She attended s ...

was working for Marks, designing a mid-price label known as Stephen Marks and a French Connection by Stephen Marks label at the budget end of the market. Marks' brands were singled out that year by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

s Angela Neustatter – along with Christopher McDonnell, Jeff Banks and

Stirling Cooper Stirling Cooper was a London-based fashion wholesaler and retailer that, along with brands such as Biba, Quorum, Browns and Clobber, helped to redefine UK fashion in the late 1960s. Part of the Swinging London scene in the early years, and wi ...

– as labels likely to survive the growing plethora of mass-market anonymous brands in the UK fashion industry. Heading up the company's design studio in Bow, East London, Farhi helped launch a men's label in 1976. She subsequently became Marks' partner and the couple had a child together. Marks assisted Farhi in launching an eponymous higher-end label within the French Connection group in 1983, remaining involved with the Nicole Farhi label until it was sold in 2010. After Marks floated the French Connection brand on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

in 1984, he was listed as the 15th richest man in Britain, but by the late 1980s the company was in trouble. Marks regained directorial control of French Connection in 1991, changing its image with the 'fcuk' advertising campaign. Today the brand operates in 30 countries and Marks' other business interests via French Connection include the clothing and clothing/homewear brands Great Plains and Toast. Toast now has eleven UK stores.

Other interests

Marks is a member of the

All-England Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam ...

and has helped to establish tennis academies in the UK and Israel to develop young players. At one time he had a substantial share in Hard Rock Café. He has also been involved with films, helping to finance ''

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' is a 1998 British black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, produced by Matthew Vaughn and starring an ensemble cast featuring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Steven Macki ...

'', '' Snatch'', ''

Layer Cake A layer cake (US English) or sandwich cake (UK English) is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for lay ...

'' and '' Kick-Ass''.

References

External links

October 2013 Daily Telegraph interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Stephen 1946 births Living people English Jews English businesspeople in retailing English businesspeople in fashion