I’ve always had dreams of creating a Tradeshow of sorts for bloggers and their favorite brands. I’ve always felt the importance and necessity to build up the community that I am so closely involved in.

This year I teamed up with the Project Trade show to bring this dream to fruition. I curated a special space at The Project Show for some of my favorite blogger friends. Strawser & Smith provided all the furniture for The Blogger Project. It was clean, minimalistic and decorated with metal chairs, leather couches, amazing light fixtures and a beautiful wooden table. The bloggers had the opportunity to work with Splashlight Studio to produce beautiful content for their blogs live on the spot.

I wanted to give brands an opportunity to meet and engage with some of their favorite bloggers and I also wanted to give these bloggers the opportunity to work with some their favorite brands and document the week from their eyes.

The outcome was fantastic and the reception was overwhelming. I called upon Selectism, The Madbury Club, William Yan, Denim Therapy, The Denim Guy, Por Homme and Aveder Outfit to be part of this first Blogger Project Experience curated by me.

A special thank you to all the bloggers who made this experience possible. Thank you to amazing Project team and staff for believing in the vision.

Last year, Marcus Troy embarked on a digital collaborative project with Nike Sportswear to bring us The Mavericks Project.

The Mavericks Project was about telling stories and sharing stories from athletes and people from all around the world. The response was incredible and people from all over shared their most intimate stories on the Maverick Project microsite as well as the iTunes app.

The project resonated in people’s hearts and minds worldwide, sparking wide conversation about being a Maverick and discovering one’s Maverick spirit.

The stories and project were picked up by The Huffington Post, The Examiner and countless other news outlets who found the concept and idea to be brilliant.

One of the main incentives for sharing your story for the project was the opportunity to create a Bespoke shoe with Marcus Troy at 21 Mercer Street in NYC.

The popular Bespoke customization experience is like none other. The chance to design your own Air Force One with a team of Nike professionals is simply mind-blowing.

As part of the Marcus Troy Experience, two winners were picked from the countless Maverick Project stories to partake in this moment.

Carlos Sanchez and Timothy Rodrigues were the two winners of this initiative. These two individuals were brought down to New York City to work with Marcus Troy on some Bespokes.

These are the Air Force 1′s that came out of that meeting.

Link to more

All photos by Vince Tsang

Last year my friends from DC shoes were in Montreal for some product meetings and we made plans to possibly meet up in the city for some drinks. We met up that night in their hotel and my friend Hommy Diaz, Global Lifestyle Merch & Design Manager showed me some new items they had coming out in the spring. He pulled out a smooth looking black shoe out of his bag that he called THE STUDIO.

The silhouette of this shoe and material story really sparked my interest. I felt like it was a great departure from what I knew of DC shoes. It looked classic, felt great and the minimalistic branding got me really interested in telling this story. I got really excited when I saw the Black Studio shoe, so I guess Hommy neglected to tell me about the several other great color ways. After he pulled all of them out of his bag, I knew I had to share this story with all of you about the Bounce Suede material, the heritage Pill branding and 7 colors to represent the 7-point star in the iconic DC logo. And I knew I could not do it alone. So I decided to enlist several friends that I respected to help me tell the Studio shoe story.

I decided to call upon 6 Cultural participants that I know and respect to help me tell this story through a visual essay that I call MY STUDIO SESSION. I chose these individuals based on their involvement in creating original content, passion for photography and good taste. I thought it would be a great idea for them to interpret their vision of the shoe through imagery and visuals. As content creators and cultural participants we often use the world as our STUDIO when documenting our lives and or creating content online. I wanted to take it a step further and have these well-respected individuals pick a colour that resonated with them and go out into the world and use THE STUDIO DC Life shoe as their personal subject.

In this visual essay you will see the vision of Joshua Kissi, Vincent Tsang, Eric Johnson, Phillip Annand, William Yan, Sean Quincy and yours truly Marcus Troy.

Welcome to our Studio Session presented by DC LIFE.

My Studio Session Picture.

Visit the full project here

http://marcustroy.com/mystudiosession

This project would not have been possible without Shane Stirling and Bobby, Brendan & Matt from the UC. A special thanks to Hommy Diaz and DC LIFE for believing in the vision.

I’m extremely proud to share with you guys this new initiative that I’ve been working on for the past couple of months. The Mavericks Project is about telling stories about key individuals that have been identified as Mavericks. I’ve also used this platform to allow all of you to share your stories of being a maverick.

A couple months ago The Nike Sportswear team shared with me their upcoming fall & winter inspiration and I now have the opportunity to share it with all of you. There were a couple of very interesting elements about the stories that stayed with me, besides the infamous Destroyer jacket and the Lunar Wood’s being super dope, the message or idea was about being a maverick and highlighting the defining moment. The stories profiled individuals, athletes and groups who embodied the Maverick spirit.

By definition a maverick is an independent-minded person, a freethinking individual who refuses to conform, they are eccentric, original and value freedom.

The first people they identified as Mavericks were some of the running crews from around the world like the original running mavericks called The Athletic West Club, The Bridgerunners from New York, The Run Dem Crew from London and The Rock Trax Running Crew from Tokyo.

I felt like the stories were compelling so I wanted to share them with guys, but beyond a blog post so I created this new digital space as its platform.

The story also speaks to my sensibilities and falls inline with my philosophies that we all have the maverick spirit within in us and it’s just about discovering it.

Mavericks are so much more, their lifestyle, their actions, their passions and hobbies are all a reflection of what makes them a maverick. Eventually we will all realize a defining moment that will shape our lives forever and define us as mavericks.

As you peruse through this new digital space you will be able to learn about some of these mavericks see some new products and watch some insightful videos about these individuals. A very exciting component about this space is that you will also be able to share your story as a future maverick. I want you to tell me what you’re about, what’s your defining moment, what you want to be known for or even what you have accomplished.

I look forward to reading all your stories, sharing them with people from around the world and spreading inspiration.

Please enjoy,

May the maverick spirit be with you!

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thank you to the team that worked night and day to make this happen! You know who are are.

www.marcustroy.com/mavericks

A couple days ago I was approached by Levi’s to collaborate with them on a their iconic trucker denim jacket.

The process was pretty exciting, they wanted me to submit some artwork that they would screen print onto the iconic piece.

This collaboration is part of their Levi’s Workshop series that they are activating all around the country. The first stop was San Francisco and I got the opportunity to get in and make it happen.

I wasn’t sure about the parameters but I knew I had a bit of leeway to be creative and submit a few color prints.  Printing on a denim jacket brought me right back to the early 90’s when this trend was really popular. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce to the world some ideas and thoughts that have been bubbling inside of me for years.

I envisioned the jacket looking vintage but I wanted it to feel timeless, I wanted the prints to look and feel like the early 90’s bootleg luxury prints. I wanted to recreate the nostalgia of my cousin painting on my jeans when I was a kid, I just wanted it to look and feel like we did it ourselves.

I called up Bryan Espiritu from The Legends League an extremely talented artist who I work with and respect to conceptualize this idea. I knew with his talent and my vision we would be able to execute this concept precisely for this piece. B.E was extremely excited about the project and we worked all night to make sure everything came out to our liking.

I took this opportunity to introduce to you guys the concept of ARMOIRE, which is a culmination of ideas, thoughts and experiences I’ve been living with my whole life.

Armoire is a look into my mind and into my closet, it’s about ideas, products, retail and experiences.  I will keep you posted on the development of this concept.

The pictures above are from the workshop in San Francisco where ED and his team are washing the screen sand some of the transparencies preparing to print. We made sure to keep the prints a bit distressed to give it that vintage feel.

Levi’s will be producing 5 of these jackets, 2 of which will be coming to me, and 3 more that will be available to the public. You guys will get a chance to get your hands on 1 of 3 jackets trough the Levi’s Workshop Blog.

I’m extremely happy that I am able to lend my thoughts and ideas to brands to create tangible products for you guys. I know the project is limited but I promise you there will be more to come.

The Levi’s Workshop officially closes in San Francisco on Saturday and then it will open in New York City as a photo studio in October.

So here you have it The Very Limited Edition Levi’s x  Armoire by Marcus Troy Collaboration.

Keep in mind, the Levi’s® Print Shop completely disappears come September, so these jackets will become instant custom relics, the final project from this amazing two month long undertaking.

All you have to do is send an email to info@levisworkshops.com with the words ‘MT Print Shop Trucker’ in the subject line. Three of these will be chosen randomly as winners. If that’s you, the jacket is yours!

Good luck!

Special Thanks To ED, DREW and Kelsey.

A special thank you  to Bryan Espiritu!

Enjoy!

Photos by Vincent Tsang -On and Beyond
Marcus Troy x Ronnie Fieg Sebago Docksides-Nexus Project

This is a very proud moment for me! To be able to give you guys something that is tangible and filled with my DNA is such an incredible feeling. I never thought that blogging would take me this far, now I’m in the lime light cause I blog tight…Sorry I am getting distracted by B.I.G as I write this.

When Ronnie approached me about this project I had no clue it was going to be such an unbelievable experience. To finally be able to show you the finish product and to release pairs into the market place is such a great accomplishment.

Here you have 1 of 2 shoes that I put together, the Docksides in a “Buffalo” brown leather and red colorway. This colorway was inspired by my love for luxury and my aspirational tendencies. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on these Limited Edition Sebago Docksides, I want you to know that you are really getting a piece of me, my vision, my passion, my thoughts, my enthusiasm and love. I am looking forward to bringing you guys more products and ideas from the mind of Marcus Troy. I hope you love and enjoy them.

I am extremely humbled that I’ve been able to see this project come to fruition and that I am able to share it with you guys. Thank you for always supporting me, correcting me, challenging me and hating on me. It has all made me a better person and want to especially thank you for allowing me to share my journey.

I want to thank Ronnie Fieg, Tom Siano and Gary Malamet for the opportunity to tell a story trough product.

Thank you to Vincent Tsang for capturing my vision on camera.

Marcus Troy

Available exclusively at Davidz.com on Friday June 25th 2010.

The Nexus Project! Wait a couple more weeks to see the rest of my teammates shoes! They all killed it in my opinion!!