Mark Cross is getting back to its heritage roots with a relaunch strategy.
The nearly 180-year-old leather goods company owned by GF Capital has embarked on its latest relaunch with new products, messaging and retail plans spearheaded by a new executive team that includes chief executive officer Gayle Dizon and chief creative officer Sean Spellman, who both joined the brand last year.
Under former CEO Ulrik Garde Due, who left the company in late 2022, Mark Cross embarked on a similar revitalization strategy, which entailed international partnerships, category expansions and the opening of its only flagship, on New York City’s Madison Avenue.
For its current relaunch, the brand is taking learnings and continuing some initiatives. However, the focus is to create a unified brand image that goes back to the American luxury label’s heritage roots.
“We had a core customer base that maybe didn’t understand what had been going on,” Spellman said about the previous revitalization plan. “So, I think now bringing it back to that simplicity, and even our imagery that we’re working on: this is what [the products] feel like, this is what it smells like. It gives you a feeling. It emotes an emotion rather than ‘here’s a bag.’”
From a product standpoint, Spellman is bringing back many styles from the Mark Cross archives and modernizing them for today’s customer, all while focusing on the craftsmanship and quality that has been at the core of the brand since its launch in 1845.
Several key styles include the Jane, a vachetta shoulder bag with a hexagonal metal fastening first introduced in the 1960s; the Romy 25 and Romy Clutch, which were inspired by 1970s styles, and the Eleanor 42, a tote bag that’s already been a popular style at the brand’s recent trunk shows.
Spellman will also introduce the brand’s classic Grace Box, which was inspired by the handbag carried by Grace Kelly in the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic film “Rear Window.”
“We were focused on distilling the essence of the brand down, which really is rooted in these beautiful leathers and in this craftsmanship that lasts for generations,” Dizon said. “That to me is the only strategy that you should have for this brand — It’s building on beautiful products that last for generations. I think that’s where we’re going and over time, I know that many people have been sitting in this role over the last almost two centuries, but really, it’s going back to the basics of beautiful craftsmanship, beautiful material and making sure that it lasts forever.”
The strategy includes the latest relaunch of the Mark Cross men’s collection, which was most recently introduced in 2020 under Garde Due. Spellman and Dizon explained that the new men’s collection will be more cohesive than previously.
Garde Due stated in 2021 that Mark Cross’ men’s category was projected to make up 50 percent of the brand’s revenue by 2024. Dizon explained the brand has not yet hit this milestone, but that it remains a key goal of the brand’s relaunch.
“The men’s market is very, very important to us and it’s so underserved,” Dizon said. “We see a lot of white space for this kind of American heritage — like things that you love and they become the go-tos. We were already fully in development on a full range of men’s products, and we’re working through how we’re going to cadence those [products] out the next season or two.”
Mark Cross’ relaunch also covers a new retail strategy. After closing its New York City flagship in January 2023, the brand is focusing on its direct-to-consumer and VIP clientele businesses.
Dizon explained the brand hopes to reopen a flagship next year and is looking again at New York City and other cities as target locations. The CEO named London as another option for the flagship as Mark Cross has a loyal customer base in the city.
“A luxury brand like ours, we need to be able to control our story,” Spellman said. “I think [we need] brick-and-mortar, but before that, pop-ups and going to different markets and getting the product out there into the right hands. That’s first and that can be through trunk shows.”
The brand declined to comment on projected sales for 2024, but stated that it expects most of its business to come from the U.S. Dizon explained that global rollout is also a priority for Mark Cross, as the brand is seeing lots of interest across Europe, the Middle East and Asia — namely South Korea and Japan.
“We have a very unique proposition in that there are no other luxury heritage American brands doing what we do,” Dizon said. “In terms of just having that refined American sensibility, there’s an integrity to what the brand stands for. That’s what’s resonating and that’s been carried over for the last almost two centuries.”
