Marlon Taylor-Wiles, Founder of FUTR
Insatiably curious about the intersection between the performative and the sartorial, Marlon Taylor-Wiles has over a decade of experience in the performing arts and fashion.
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Marlon studied classical ballet and modern dance at the Margo Marshall School of Ballet and Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Upon graduating, Marlon received a full scholarship to the Boston Conservatory, where he studied under former Joffrey Ballet Master Luis Fuente. Marlon subsequently toured the world with the New York-based contemporary ballet company ArmitageGone! Dance, led by iconic choreographer and interdisciplinary artist Karole Armitage.
Over the course of five years at ArmitageGone! Dance, Marlon had the honor of collaborating with several of the world’s leading visual artists, including Will Cotton, William Wegman and David Salle. He performed at venues including the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), The Joyce Theater, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in a command performance for Prince Albert II. In 2012, Marlon was named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch." As a model, Marlon has appeared in Elle and i-D alongside supermodels Dree Hemingway, Chanel Iman and Joan Smalls. He has danced in music videos for Beyoncé and Madonna, and starred in the viral Evian commercial Baby and Me, which garnered a record-breaking 100 million views on YouTube within two months.
While studying dance at the Boston Conservatory, Marlon was hired as one of the original opening team members for Ralph Lauren's Rugby — which led to brand manager and strategist roles for Ralph Lauren's RRL as well as the pioneering Boston concept boutique Bodega. Alongside the pursuit of his dance career, Marlon has conceptualized, produced and executed events, shows and campaigns for CFDA brands Michael Bastian, Lulu Frost and George Frost, as well as Theory, Esprit, Dion Lee, Death to Tennis, Willy Chavarria, Noah, and AVJD. The scope of his work with these brands has been broad, ranging from concept direction to branding, art direction, event production, fashion show direction, and choreography.
In 2014, Marlon founded FUTR as a way to share his multifaceted knowledge of the fashion industry and the performance art world — including dance, theater and film. Starting in the summer of 2019, Marlon became an adjunct professor at Hunter College Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program. He co-collaborated with the department chair Kathleen Isaac to create a course called Tech and Tech - Dance Technique and Technology.