FF x MS - Interview

Two years ago at the Envision Mpls fashion show I met a young, enthusiastic, visual artist by the name of Marcus Styles. We've managed to stay in contact over the years and it has been truly amazing to watch each other grow and develop. Marcus' style is very similar yet different from mine. My aesthetic is very bright/white balanced while his is darker with more shadows. We thought it would be dope to collaborate and create something that brought both of our styles of fashion, art, and photography together. We chose to mix things up a bit and play around with different gendered clothing items, Marcus is wearing a top/jacket combo from the women's section at Zara, while I am wearing a men's Bape x Hudson sweater as a dress from Macy's. This project was pretty big, we had my photographer, Kendall Holt as well as Marcus' photographer, Tommy Witoshynsky taking photos. At the end of the shoot I sat down with Marcus to ask him a few questions to let my readers know more about him and his work.

Let's start by introducing yourself. Who is Marcus Styles? Where are you from? What do you do? (What time of art do you produce?)

Well I can’t answer that without telling you I’m actually Marcus Spears. Born and raised in NE Minneapolis (home of the artist). I am a creative director + visual artist. When I was younger I use to make up new identities frequently. Some people use to know me as Jordan Boss, Demetrius, Skylar, etc. but I’m well known as Savagegodd and Stylishgawd. Those where my biggest screen names in high school. But after some rediscovery I found Marcus Styles. None of my alter egos really exist anymore they were all phases in my life that helped me find Marcus Styles. Marcus styles is the creative mastermind, Marcus Spears is your every day guy who likes Pizza and Smoothies.

When did you first realize you were a creative?

I've always known how to draw, design, model, and anything creative honestly. They have been things throughout my life I have flourished doing. But, I was fortunate enough to attend Main Street School of Performing Arts High school (Msspa for short). From the performing arts scene it was the road to rediscovery. I began as a theater major and thought I was one day going to be a an actor in commercial for the rest of my life. I was good at acting but I let everyone else outshine me. But, because of some close friends and the persuasion of the amazing Betsy Maloney, I became a dance major. I knew I was a creative when I performed my first choreographed dance piece.