South Tulsa, California. You won’t find it on a map, but you’ll find it on nearly all of Danzy Design Studio pieces — neatly tucked into a patch, or screen-printed on the back of a tee. It’s Marshall Danzy’s world, and we’re just visitors. Raised in the midwest and currently in Los Angeles, Marshall is the man behind Danzy Design Studio and a jack of many trades. His vintage-inspired sweat sets have been worn by Emily Ratajkowski, Hailey Bieber, Michelle Obama, and Irina Shayk, to name just a few, and his signature pieces caught Jenn Bandier’s eye on Instagram back in 2019. A few (ignored) phone calls later, the two were connected, Marshall set to work tie-dying pieces for a Hamptons event, and it was a done deal. We called Marshall up to get the scoop on him, his brand, and his new exclusive capsule. The man, the myth?, definitely the legend…Marshall.

Iconic. What were you doing before all this? What led you to starting the brand or even being interested in doing something like that in the first place?

When I moved out here in '04 there was a sneaker brand that was hitting big — Pharrell and Kanye were wearing them. I really wanted these shoes, but they were expensive and I was horrible with money, so I couldn’t afford them. I went to Walmart, bought white Velcro shoes, and painted them in a similar style. One day I’m walking down Melrose, looking around in stores, minding my own business. I hear this person running behind me, yelling at me. He goes, "You, with the shoes. Where'd you get those?" I was like, "Oh, I painted them. What's up?" He asked if I wanted to start selling them. Immediate yes. So it began — I was buying $9 shoes at Walmart, custom-painting them, and then selling them on Melrose. That then turned into custom t-shirts, which led me into screen-printing. I was printing t-shirts in my garage and my bedroom. But I didn't know it was possible to do that full time. Back then, it wasn’t how fashion is now. As an African American man, I didn’t know I could make a living like that. It was really just a hobby. There was no Virgil at that time. There was nobody in that same world to really look too.

At that time, I was also working in TV production, and that’s when I was introduced to BANDIER. In the summer of 2019, I was an associate producer on a reality show, and I was responsible for transcriptions. I was taking notes, writing dialogue in real time, and furiously typing away on my phone. I keep getting this call from an unknown New York number. I'm declining, declining, declining. They called maybe four to five times.

Then I get a text message saying, "Hey, this is Jayne Harkness and Jenn Bandier. We'd love to hop on a call with you." I knew what BANDIER was because they were about to build a storefront on Melrose, so it clicked. I stepped outside and called them back…They had found me on Instagram. They wanted 100 tie-dye pieces for a Hamptons event in two weeks. It was full speed ahead. But I did it. That time period was wild. I was tie-dying stuff in the trunk of my car on my lunch break. Those tie-dye pieces were the first thing I sold with BANDIER.

It's like a tribute to her. You're mentioning that you used to do a lot of stuff by hand. How has your medium evolved and how are the products that you were producing in 2018 different than what you're doing now, or how are they the same?

Back in 2017, distressing was starting to get big right around that time. I was playing around with it, and I was very, very, very hands-on. I always wanted everything to have a one-of-a-kind, vintage feel. I try to maintain that today. With the screenprinting, it’s still all hand done. I go to places that don’t use machines, people who actually put that paint on the screen. And I still screenprint in my kitchen. I’ve always wanted my clothes to feel like they could be in the 90s. Like my kids, whenever I have them, and their friends, they pull that vintage screen-printed DANZY piece out. It’s thread worn, it’s well-loved, it’s sick.

Do you create all your pieces yourself? 

I still very much am a small business. I creatively concept and start everything, I test color and sketch and design in my own home. Then I take to production. I hope that inspires someone. If it’s just me doing this, anybody can do it, really. 

Where do you find inspiration?

My inspiration is legitimately everywhere. I'm very into interior design, but from an aspect of people within spaces. I’m thinking, "Oh, what is she wearing while at home on that distressed leather chair? What is she wearing when she’s walking through that chevron wooden floor hallway? Is she wearing a long Oxford?" In culture, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Princess Diana, Ralph Lauren and everything he’s done with classic, Americana style.

When I’m creating collections or pieces, I also turn to four of my close girlfriends. They all have different styles and taste. I’m smart enough to know I don’t know everything! So I love bouncing ideas off of them, asking their advice, how they’d style a piece. They’re my brutally honest and terribly paid Board of Advisors. When I say terribly paid, I mean free. And they remind me of that.

What have been some notable moments in your career?

For me, the best moment is when my parents walked into a store in LA and they saw my pieces. They were blown away. And to have my mom see her family name — that was incredible. They were hearing about it, but that’s different — it's like, they understand it, but for them to walk into a store and see something of their son’s creation was a full circle moment for them. They always kind of saw this creative thing in me, but didn’t know how it would turn out.

Other moments — it was crazy when Hailey Bieber first wore Danzy. Emily Ratajkowski, too — that was big because I’ve always liked her style a lot. And then getting into Bandier was great. I remember driving by the spot on Melrose, before the store was built. They just had the advertisements. And I was like, "Man, it'd be dope to be in that store..." A year and a half later Jenn B called.