Mark Cross is an American luxury leather goods brand. Founded in 1845, the company started as a bridle, harness, and saddle maker before transitioning 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, took over as the company’s president in 1934 after years of living abroad.
Before leading Mark Cross,
Gerald and Sara 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, particular ...
were wealthy expatriates living at
Cap d'Antibes and forming relationships with many artists and writers of the
Lost Generation
The Lost Generation was the social generational cohort in the Western world that was in early adulthood during World War I. "Lost" in this context refers to the "disoriented, wandering, directionless" spirit of many of the war's survivors in th ...
.
Gerald’s friendship with
Alfred Hitchcock led to him to design an overnight case for
Grace Kelly’s character in
“Rear Window,” an early example of product placement in film.
Later, one with
Lee Iacocca led to Mark Cross branding being used on 1980s
Chrysler 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. It remained dormant until it was relaunched in 2011 by new owner Neal J Fox, who produces the products in the same Italian factories as the company did over 40 years prior.
References
{{reflist
Leather goods
Luxury brands