Bridal gown label Cross My Heart is now available in Malta. The brand’s premiere collection – Mediterranea – was launched in September 2013 at the British Bridal Exhibition in Harrogate, UK, while Medina, the second collection, was launched in April.
The mind behind the label is Steven Jones, born in Sydney from Maltese parents, who first brought him to visit the island at the age of five, 32 years ago.
“We would travel here to visit relatives every three to four years, so Malta has always been a part of my upbringing as well as a knowledge of the culture, lifestyle and way of life,” Mr Jones said.
“It was also very important to my parents for my siblings and I to have an understanding of their heritage as, although they saw Australia as a place of many opportunities, they had always told us that when we were old enough, they would move back as this is where their heart belonged.”
At the age of 22, Mr Jones came to Malta on a one-year working trip. He loved it and immediately felt “a strange affinity with the place”.
He explained that although he had spent most of his life in Australia, Malta felt more like home to him. At that point also, legislation was brought into place that offspring from Maltese parents were able to acquire dual citizenship and “I jumped at the chance to have a Maltese passport”.
In subsequent years, Mr Jones’s parents migrated back to Malta and he would come to visit, always in the knowledge that he would someday make Malta his home. In 2012, he made this dream a reality and moved here permanently.
He was given the opportunity to move to Malta as an employee for an Australian bridal wear company as international business development manager to promote the label in the UK.
My intention is to have a globally recognised Maltese bridal designer collection to be distributed internationally
Mr Jones made occasional trips to the UK to visit prospective and existing retailers and over the course of the next year-and-a-half, he received a lot of feedback from UK retailers about what their thoughts were on the industry and ranges currently on offer.
In May 2013, with this knowledge and his own experience, he took the plunge and came up with his own label and range of wedding gowns.
“My intention for Cross My Heart is to have a globally recognised Maltese bridal designer collection to be distributed internationally. So far, the UK, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Australia and the US have taken a great liking to the collection, but it is still very much in its infancy. The two-year plan is to have 40 retailers internationally and grow from there,” Mr Jones explained.
The range was developed based on the designer’s experience working in the fashion and photography industry for the last 12 years in Australia. Making use of his knowledge of the international bridal wear market and seeking the advice and expertise of his mother, an experienced dressmaker, together with a team of designers, the result was Cross My Heart, or XMH.
“The name is derived from the Maltese cross, as is the logo, which is a simplified X, which has a double meaning of my Maltese origins and the symbol of written affection. The intention is to target the woman who wants a sophisticated, elegant and understated gown to complement high-end labels at the lower end of the market,” the young designer explained.
Cross My Heart wedding gowns, which start from just over €800, are available from Camilleriparismode. For more information, visit www.camilleriparismode.com, call 2010 2030 or e-mail weddings@camilleriparismode.com.