MARK CROSS

THE CRAFT

On a warm Sunday morning in May, I travelled to Antella, just outside of Florence, with a small crew and a vague creative idea. Luigi Limberti, the 94-year-old founder of Limberti Evolution Factory, had agreed to take part in a film centred around the craftsmanship behind Mark Cross bags (Limberti Evolution was, at the time, one of four Italian factories employed by Mark Cross.)

From the second we arrived, Luigi met- and exceeded- every expectation I had. Stories came at us thick and fast, in rapid Italian, and through his enthusiastic gestures and snatches of translation from his team, we learnt to communicate.

Luigi explained how he had made bags for unbelievable names- from European royalty to the Kennedys- and how he had developed the infamous Gucci Jackie bag. He showed us tools from the 1950s that he still uses today. He spoke about his friendship with Paloma Picasso, and how he had made wallets for American soldiers after WWII as a gift from Italy. He told us stories spanning lifetime after lifetime, and I got the sense that it would have taken another lifetime to hear them all.

The shoot was finished in under two hours, because Luigi is a born entertainer. We left the factory and met for a coffee in town before saying our goodbyes. Luigi’s order, before noon on a Sunday: a negroni.