Marcus is the Founder and CEO of MARCUS ALEXANDER, a design-forward footwear company headquartered in Oakland, CA. He was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. He is a former Design Director with over ten years of experience in the fashion, casual, and sport footwear industries. He loves how shoes function as utility and art, and how this duality can empower both self-expression and self-preservation. He is a son of Howard University and trained as a traditional shoe-maker, leaving the comfort of the States, to study at the London College of Fashion, in order to see the world with a new perspective. He is a footwear designer and wants to improve the lives of others by elevating and simplifying their daily footwear needs. His dream for MARCUS ALEXANDER is to impact the lives of others through great design. The purpose of design is to create more joy, and what a privilege it is to be able to leverage his own authentic joy to bring gutsy, sophisticated, utilitarian footwear to the world.