Tulsa Native Finds Fashion Success With Danzy Design Studio

Marshall Taulbert, the designer behind the Danzy Design Studio brand, grew up in Tulsa, attending Jenks for most of his school days before going to ORU.

While there, Taulbert decided he wanted to make it in the world of fashion, and his dream is coming true.

As Taulbert explains, "I went in with the idea of marketing, and I never thought I would actually use it, but it's crazy how much I actually use it now, running my own business."

Discovering Fashion and Early Influences

Taulbert's interest in fashion was sparked at a young age, influenced by his mother and family outings to Woodland Hills Mall. As he recalls,

"I remember when we were little, it was my mom and my cousin and my aunt would go to Woodland Hills Mall every single Saturday morning. And I think running around Dillards and JC Penney's and Reinberg and like, seeing the Polo section and all the colors, I think, like, just burned an image like in my head that just really has double so I always go back to remember running through the racks of like, casual corners all those old stores in Welton Hills Mall, I think really kind of set the stage," said Taulbert

First Steps in Fashion

After graduating from ORU, Taulbert moved to Los Angeles, where he started working in TV production. During his free time, he began painting white velcro shoes from Walmart, which led to a chance encounter that would change the course of his career. As Taulbert explains;

"A guy saw me running down this guy I was in and out of stores on Melrose Avenue, winning a boutique came out, a guy saw, saw me, runs out, starts asking me where my shoes are from. And I was like, Oh, I just painted them yesterday. And this was my first summer in LA he's like, Well, do you sell them? I was like, No, I don't sell them. You're like, Well, do you want to sell them? And I was I immediately just said, Absolutely. And that was kind of how I kind of tripped and fell in the fashion," he said.

Inspiration and Fashion Week

Taulbert's inspiration for Danzy Design Studio comes from his Tulsa roots, as well as the fashion trends of the 90s that he grew up with.

"A lot of it's from growing up in Tulsa, honestly, um, I remember going on walks with my mom in the morning, just kind of seeing how the other women were dressed, family members, people my dad introduced me to over the years. And it back to my childhood of, like, summer camps and playing sports. It was, a lot of it is based off of Tulsa, and then a lot of is based off of, like, 90s fashion and 90s TV shows that, like, I really grew up on," Taulbert said.

Taulbert's journey in the fashion industry has included the prestigious achievement of being featured in Vogue magazine. As he reflects,

"That is the crown jewel, at least for me, was to be in vogue. Now, I've been in there before, but this was like, one of the first pictures where it was like me in Vogues above my head and in fashion. I'm still a very small brand. I'm worldwide, but it's still just me running this company, so I'm very small, so to get that type of recognition in the magazine is huge, especially at this like juncture in my career, like it's, it's, it's kind of, it's really unbelievable to be where I am, not having any training, just kind of jumping into fashion and being able to get to where I've gotten to showing it Fashion Week, having someone from Vogue come look at my rack, and then not even knowing that I'm going to end up in the magazine," he said.

If you are interested in seeing some of Taulbert's Design, visit www.danzyus.com