Marc Kalman Is Still Kelly

The creative director and brand founder opens up about his journey from sports to style, working with Travis Scott, and the two-year road to his debut collection.

Unlike many contemporary fashion heads, Marc Kalman didn’t grow up collecting magazines. His love affair began at the mall, in Boca Raton, Florida, in the 1990s, where he bought Polo Ralph Lauren from Bloomingdale’s. His main creative outlet at the time, though, was sports. “I wasn’t in an artistic household; basketball shaped my creativity,” he says. “You’d dunk on exit signs, mimic moves, and notice what players wore—and people always had something to say about the way I dressed—my mother telling me to pull my pants up, for example.”

It wasn’t until after high school that his feelings about fashion became serious. Kalman moved to New York in 2010, studied design, and worked stints at , , and eventually , where menswear caught his attention. The real turning point came after a failed attempt at launching a brand. “We ran out of money, and someone we met said, ‘Meet this kid. If you put the same energy into him, he’ll take off.’ That kid was Travis Scott,” Kalman recalls. That introduction opened up a new lane, leading to creative direction in album art, merch, music videos, and cultivating a dedicated community. “I never thought I’d end up in music—it kind of just happened. But it let me dive into all kinds of projects. One of the last ones with Scott was a Helmut Lang collection, a perfect blend of fashion and music,” he adds.

In 2020, after years spent working with Scott, Kalman shifted his focus to launching his own brand, Still Kelly. But what’s behind the name? “In my early twenties, my closest friends started calling me Kelly, because they thought I looked like a Kelly—it just stuck,” he explains. “I’d always say, ‘I’m Marc, but I’m still Kelly.’ Then someone posted a picture of me with ‘Still Kelly’ written on it, and that was it.” Kalman’s lifelong obsession with double letters and repetition also played a role. “It took time to really love the name, but it’s personal,” he says. “Like everything I do, it’s about letting things evolve naturally until they just feel right—and this did.”When it comes to the brand’s aesthetic and ethos, Kalman describes it as “ultra-eccentric, cult, punk, pop—a bit of a mouthful,” he admits. “I’m not some fashion boy making sculptural pieces. I’m building a wardrobe that speaks to me—I’m my own muse. It’s all about remixing ideas and references that I love, adding hardware and graphics to weave in narratives. It’s not going to scream at you; it’s more of a puzzle. I want to keep things enigmatic. My whole approach is ‘say less,’ because less really is more.”

Kalman’s approach feels more like an art director’s than a traditional designer’s. For him, the process starts with collaging. “I’m a vintage clothing collector and constantly immerse myself in images,” he says. “I piece together shapes and visuals to create a blueprint, which my team and I then sketch to life. Sometimes it starts with a silhouette or styling idea, but I’m rarely swayed by other people sharing references—I always have my own clear vision that I need to follow.”For his debut collection, launched with SSENSE, Kalman revealed it had been nearly two years in the making. “Making clothes is one thing; producing and distributing them is another,” he says. True to his style, he wasn’t about to rush the process—everything had to unfold organically. When it came to the collection’s direction, there was no strict theme; it was all instinct. “I pulled silhouettes and proportions from my own wardrobe, mixed in visuals I liked, and focused on creating a new kind of wardrobe,” he says. The priority was simple: Make great clothes, collaborate with the right people, and ensure top-notch quality by using the best factories.

The key pieces of the Fall/Winter 2024 collection—titled Boyish—are classic essentials. “We made these work pants—I call them perfect. The break is just right, and they’re crafted from Japanese cotton with a subtle sheen,” Kalman says. “Then there are these beautiful shirts, over-dyed in prime colors.”The T-shirts were the toughest challenge. “Getting the shape and fit right took forever. I kept thinking about my boys—the neckline had to be right, or my best friends wouldn’t rock it,” he says. The lineup covers all the bases, from sleek hoodies and polo sweatshirts to nylon track jackets and tailored denim shorts with matching jackets. It’s an impeccable wardrobe, built to last.Shot on the streets of London, the campaign was captured by Winter Vandenbrink, styled by Pau Avia, with grooming by Tom Wright, and featured rising models Ned Sims and Lux Gillespie. “I was drawn to Vandenbrink’s work—his photos and books have a voyeuristic, boyish charm that matches the collection,” says Kalman. “And Ned and Lux were perfect muses—two effortlessly beautiful, boyish guys who looked great in everything. It all just clicked.”

What’s next for Still Kelly? “Clothes are cool, fun, and creative—everything I love about this industry. But at the end of the day, it’s a business,” Kalman says. “I’m aiming high and going all in to be the best.”