“Everything is on my phone—that's the tool.”
What’s your process like? What are some of the tools you use?
How did you come around to Universe? Is this your first website?
YouTube
My dream is right now. I feel like what I have is very precious to my culture. I want to take this to a bigger platform. I need to just do my job and take advantage of the opportunities I see. April is about to be a big month. I know I'm slackin' on my visuals, but I'm about give everyone what they want to see.
My name is Marcel, my friends call me Celly. I'm from Newberry, South Carolina. I've always been a weird kid groovin' to my own tune. I grew up in a place where people bashed on me for being different. I was into graphic tees, skinny jeans with the vans, and hot topic... stuff that wasn't really a part of my culture where I lived. And that kind of set the tone for me early on to really do what I like and be who I am.
I moved to Florida after studying fashion design and retail and had some ups and downs, but I pulled through it and now I run Goth Sport, an apparel brand/label. It's not just clothing though—it's a lifestyle.
Cash App
Brands are about presentation. I was using Big Cartel originally and all these website tools are like "click this" "upload that". There's no identity. So I was cruising through Instagram and saw an ad for Universe. Been in love ever since. It took some time for me to get a handle on it, but when I got into it and learned how to use it, it became my best friend.
The real magic though is just getting to add my touch. I get to make things look and feel the way I want them to, which is everything to me. I can't make this up, I was homeless at the end of last year. Ever since I started to use your platform my followers and sales have skyrocketed. I've made it.
Early on, I was living out of my car, so I had to do everything off my iPhone. I couldn't afford a laptop, so I had to use what I had in front of me. My creative process is random. I'll just take scenes and vibes and try to recreate it or apply it to my designs.
I use a jumble of apps: Adobe Illustrator, Picsart (that's my go-to), Eraser, Adobe Draw, and of course my secret weapon, Universe. I just use whatever I can and mix everything and make it work. But everything is on my phone—that's the tool. I'm just resourceful. Ever since the MySpace days, I just play around with whatever I can get my hands on. I also watch a lot of YouTube videos to learn how to draw and edit as well.
If you sat there and watched me, you'd probably get a headache. Doing everything on my phone lets me work on things whenever I want, wherever I want. I’m that guy at the corner of a party taking it all in and putting inspiration to work.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you?
Eraser
Goth Sport really started as a mock of Polo Sport, but then it kind of became a serious project after it took off from an accidental project—my orange barbwire hoodie. I didn't have any cash and I was scrambling to get something out there.
It was supposed to be a yellow t-shirt, but the orange hoodie was all that was available. I was devastated. I spent my last 50 bucks to get the hoodie embroidered and didn't eat for two days after I had it made. I had pretty much given up when I put it out there, and then, it just popped off! I was getting slammed with orders. I couldn't believe it. That's when Goth Sport really became more than just an idea for me.
I've been through the bottom of the bottom. I was homeless for almost 2 years chasing this vision I had. And I was lucky to have a community to hold me up while I chased it. I was literally living my art.
Find Goth Sport on the web:
When we first stumbled into gothsport.com, we had to find out who was behind it. What started as a casual hello turned out to be a totally unexpected conversation. Marcel is a 27 year old creator from South Carolina. This is his story.
“It’s not just clothing though—it’s a lifestyle.”
Marcel Caughman
What’s the story behind Goth Sport?
What’s your vision for all of this? Where do you see it going?