Lana Marks

Lana J. Marks (born November 18, 1953) is a South African-born American fashion designer who founded the eponymous fashion brand Lana Marks. She is the current United States Ambassador to South Africa. She presented her diplomatic credentials to the South African government on January 28, 2020.

Lana Marks
United States Ambassador to South Africa
Assumed office
January 28, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byPatrick Gaspard
Personal details
Born (1953-11-18) November 18, 1953
East London, Cape Province, South Africa
Political partyRepublican
OccupationFashion designer

Early life and education

Lana Bank was born in East London, South Africa. Her father, Alec Bank, had immigrated from Lithuania as a child; he was an affluent property developer and a leader in the Jewish community.[1] She attended Clarendon High School for Girls in East London, and speaks Xhosa and Afrikaans.[2]

Marks is an avid tennis player, having played for Bermuda, having won bronze medals for the United States in the Maccabiah Games in 1985, playing in the South African Open, and also made it to the qualifying rounds of the French Open.[3][1][2][4][5]

Career

Marks was the CEO and designer of Lana Marks, a fashion accessories brand that specializes in exotic leathers and is known for creating some of the world's most expensive handbags.[6][7][8] When she won an Academy Award in 2007, Helen Mirren carried her handbag to the stage to accept her award.[1] Her daughter currently runs the brand.[9]

Marks has served on the Women's Leadership Board at John F. Kennedy School of Government. She was also selected to take part in the “Women and Power: Leadership in the New World” event.[10] Marks has participated in Georgetown University’s lecture series, speaking to MBA students.

The Lana Marks company has stores in Palm Beach, New York, Beverly Hills, and Dubai.[5]

Ambassador to South Africa

Her appointment to the position was leaked from an inside source within the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa's foreign affairs department.[11] On November 14, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated her to be the United States Ambassador to South Africa. She was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 2019.[12] She was sworn into office on October 4, 2019,[13] and arrived at her posting on November 9, 2019, presenting her diplomatic credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa on January 28, 2020.[14][15]

Marks has stated that her primary goals include youth and women’s empowerment.[16] During her first sixty days, Marks also stated that she was making considerable strides to resolving many of the snags in the relationship between the United States and South Africa, including the need to boost investor confidence, and HIV epidemic control. She also launched two major initiatives, to invite all of Africa's leaders to a US-Africa investment summit in Washington, and to lift South Africa into a top 20 US trading partner.[17] Marks forced out her deputy from the post, veteran career foreign service officer David Young. Though this was allegedly related to attempting to place her son in a senior role in the embassy, a senior embassy official called this "patently ridiculous," and Marks issued a statement complimenting Young, clarifying that their management styles were different.[18]

Personal life

Marks has been married to Dr Neville Marks, a practicing psychiatrist affiliated with JFK Medical Center, since 1976.[19] Marks and her husband later lived in Bermuda before moving to Florida in 1987.[1][5] She has two children.[20]

Marks was a personal friend of Diana, Princess of Wales.[21] According to Marks, the two women had planned a four-day trip to Italy for the end of August 1997. Marks canceled at the last minute when Marks's father had a heart attack. Diana went to Paris with her partner Dodi Fayed where they were killed in a car accident.[22]

Since 2010, Marks has been a member of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. According to Marks, she joined because other country clubs in Palm Beach did not admit Jewish members.[23][24]

References
  1. Sommer, Allison Kaplan (November 22, 2018). "The Long, Strange Journey of Lana Marks, Trump's Pick for South African Ambassador". Haaretz. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  2. Gaouette, Nicole; Landers, Elizabeth (2018-11-04). "Trump picks handbag designer, Mar-a-Lago member to be envoy to South Africa". CNN. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  3. Sommer, Allison Kaplan (November 22, 2018). "The Long, Strange Journey of Lana Marks, Trump's Pick for South African Ambassador" – via Haaretz.
  4. Munzenrieder, Kyle (October 22, 2018). "Lana Marks: The Handbag Designer Trump Reportedly Wants to Make Ambassador to South Africa". W. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  5. Bleby, Michael (October 1, 2018). "We spoke to handbag designer and soon-to-be US ambassador to SA: this is what she said". BusinessDay. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  6. Puri, Madhu (3 December 2006). "Now Gifting - Bespoke Bags". Retrieved 4 April 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
  7. Prabhakar, Hitha. "World's Most Extravagant Handbags". forbes.com. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  8. Burt, Sharelle (November 15, 2018). "Trump Nominates Handbag Designer As Ambassador To South Africa". Travel Noire. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  9. Donnelly, Shannon. "Call her 'Madame Ambassador'". Palm Beach Daily News.
  10. "Ambassador Lana Marks". U.S. Embassy & Consulates in South Africa. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  11. Washington, Jason Burke Sabrina Siddiqui in (October 2, 2018). "Trump reportedly picks handbag designer as ambassador to South Africa" – via www.theguardian.com.
  12. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts | The White House". The White House. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  13. @USEmbassySA (October 6, 2019). "Go, Lana! Congratulations on your swearing-in! Countdown to welcoming you here in South Africa!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. , Lana Marks Returns to South Africa as US Ambassador.
  15. Fabricius, Peter (2020-01-31). "The Interview: US ambassador's ambition: Lift SA into top 20 of US trade partners". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  16. , US Ambassador Lana Marks Takes Short Left In Soweto.
  17. Fabricius, Peter (2020-01-31). "The Interview: US ambassador's ambition: Lift SA into top 20 of US trade partners". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  18. Gramer, Robbie (February 5, 2020). "At Embassies Abroad, Trump Envoys Are Quietly Pushing Out Career Diplomats" – via www.foreignpolicy.com.
  19. "Dr. Neville MarksMD".
  20. Durkin, Tish (February 3, 2019). "Talking With Lana Marks, Who's Ready to Ditch Palm Beach for Pretoria". Intelligencer.
  21. "Time, February 2 1998". time.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  22. Feitelberg, Rosemary (2018-11-15). "Lana Marks: The Makings of a Fashion-Focused Ambassador nominee". WWD. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  23. Durkin, Tish (February 3, 2019). "Talking With Lana Marks, Who's Ready to Ditch Palm Beach for Pretoria". Intelligencer.
  24. Roberts, Roxanne (January 8, 2019). "Palm Beach used to be a nice town for billionaires. Then Trump came along". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Patrick Gaspard		 United States Ambassador to South Africa
2020–present		 Incumbent
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