Bearing Marks of distinction
Simone Pitsis, Dubai - January 02, 2008

PICTURE the scenario. Your husband, a well-known doctor, is invited to the Queen's royal yacht, the Britannia, to celebrate her birthday.

It's the 1980s and you have a stunning purple and red outfit, and all that's lacking is an exotic leather handbag to complete the ensemble. Trouble is, no one is doing anything fabulous with exotic leather.Most people would shrug their shoulders and re-sift their wardrobes or return to already visited stores. Not Lana Marks, for whom a lack of luxury accessories sparked a creative brainstorm.

She launched her first handbag in the US in the late '80s with the hot-pink Lana Marks Alligator Lunchbox. Fast forward almost 20 years and the woman in the red and purple outfit is one of the world's most sought-after luxury handbag designers. Her bags not only maketh the outfit, they maketh people gasp.

With some costing as much as $250,000, this is not an accessory to be taken lightly.

The majority of Marks's clutches and totes are made from American alligator, with others crafted from a range of species including Australian and New Guinea crocodiles.

Whether it is their rarity or the diamonds and jewels that embellish them, one thing is certain: a Lana Marks bag is a fashion accessory favoured by the world's rich and famous. The enviable Cleopatra Clutch, decorated with diamonds and inspired by Hollywood royal Elizabeth Taylor, is a handbag of choice for the Academy Awards, for example.

Helen Mirren was the first actor in recent memory to carry her handbag to the stage to accept her Oscar. But when that bag is a Lana Marks Cleopatra Clutch worth $250,000, who would risk leaving it on the table?

Similarly, Charlize Theron, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Kate Winslet, Sarah Jessica Parker, Barbra Streisand, Chloe Sevigny, Laura Bush, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Bassett and Reese Witherspoon have all had their Cleopatra Clutch moments and the prototype of the new clutch for the next Academy Awards is nearly complete. But the fan base doesn't end on the red carpet.

In Dubai's Harvey Nichols store, a young Russian woman bought 10 bags and within days a woman from Kazakhstan bought six and ordered some more. Both of them spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an afternoon.

Then there was the customer in Hong Kong who had a particularly beautiful sapphire-and-diamond necklace collection, and so ordered a bespoke Cleopatra Clutch with blue sapphires and diamonds to match, no expense spared.

"It's these bespoke creations," says Marks, "that allow people to really go to town and create something ultra-luxurious and one of a kind. Those bags won't be seen on anyone else anywhere else, and one day they will be a collector's piece, like a Faberge jewelled egg."

No client list is complete without the royal touch, of course. Legend has it that when princess Diana saw a Lana Marks bag for the first time with its elongated top handle, she said it was long and slim like her.

"I have told staff in all my stores that if a royal walks in, or security, the Secret Service, just call me and put me in touch, because there is nothing like the personal approach," Marks says. "A couple of months ago I got a call from my team in New York telling me the Secret Service were in the store escorting the royal family of Thailand, (who) came with all the security and entourage. We have this quite often. Sometimes when I've travelled I've missed the Barbra Streisands of the world, missed the Madonnas of the world, I just wish I could be in two places at once.

"With Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, she came in with her mother Chantal Miller, who lived in New York, and literally just walked into the store. With princess Diana, the store sent an invitation to Lucia Flecha de Lima, wife of Brazil's then ambassador in Washington, and she came in the next day with (her) close friend princess Diana. It was astounding."

In Dubai after a trip climbing the mountains in Rwanda with her husband, Marks stands in front of the silver and glass cases protecting seven Cleopatra Clutches, worth a total of $1million. There is security at the door and each exit point and we're told this is nothing compared with the rigmarole involved in flying these bags across the world. A Customs nightmare.

"I was a little naive in the beginning, I didn't realise what was involved, and at the time didn't know how competitive the industry in the US was," Marks says.

"I thought if you designed well and the collection sold well, that was the formula for success. That was, though, only the formula to enter the competitive pool of the industry.

"I was strictly raised with a very traditional work ethic. My parents went to Europe every summer and brought back fine things. My mother taught me about quality not quantity and my father was a developer and used to take me to buildings he was working on and explained proportion, which put me in good stead with designing handbags.

"I'm now experienced enough, I've made all the mistakes, I am pretty confident what I design today will work," she says.

The northern autumn '08 collection has been completed but, more immediately, Marks is launching her early spring collection at Harvey Nichols Dubai this month and for the first time in the United Arab Emirates the Lana Marks Cleopatra Clutch will be available to order at the store.

Given the increasingly sophisticated fashion prowess of the local women, not to mention their limitless wealth, Marks and Harvey Nichols are expecting numerous clutch requests. The outlet in this glitzy emirate was the designer's first foray into the Gulf, and she now is on track to stock in Abu Dhabi and plans to open a mono-brand store in Emirates Towers, followed by ventures in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The brand will soon also be seen in Moscow, London, Seoul and Istanbul. A men's line as well as signature bangles, scarfs and perfumes are to be introduced in the near future.

Over the years Dubai has become the shopping mecca of the Middle East: here men and women, young and old, frequently waltz out of stores after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The vast wealth of the gulf states has attracted considerable attention in recent years, and tens of billions of dollars have been lavished on turning the UAE into the travel and luxury destination of the 21st century.

And whether it's for their bodies, their hands, fingers, wrists or feet, locals have quickly embraced the concept of luxury and the position of Dubai as the golden city."I think there are three main places in the world today in terms of luxury brands: Dubai, Moscow and Shanghai," says Marks."And in level of sophistication I'd put them in that order; if you are going to be anywhere in the fashion scene, you need to be in Dubai. "If you're well received, it's a good indication you have a future.

"Owning a Lana Marks bag tells me that person is an international sophisticated lady who has impeccable taste and style and a classy lifestyle. Above all else, she is at the top of everything she does.

"Given the sophistication of the market in the Middle East, I predict the Cleopatra Clutch with diamonds and jewels is going to be the status symbol in Dubai."