Before Eugene Marshall, the founder of the upstart Montreal fashion label Borden, knew how to sketch a design or style an outfit, he understood the importance of dressing well. It’s a lesson he credits to his grandparents, whose influence on his style and work runs deep, even if he didn’t realize it until much later. Growing up, Marshall was especially close to his grandmother, Irene Borden, for whom the brand is named.

Marshall’s grandparents “were dressed up all the time,” he recalls, even “to go to the grocery store.” They were uniform dressers: she in skirts and blouses, he in pressed trousers, polos, loafers, and bucket hats. This simplicity is at Borden’s core, with its capsule pieces including trousers, a skirt, shorts, a blazer, and tops in a strictly black-and-white palette and made from wool or cotton. One of the brand’s guiding philosophies is what Marshall calls his one-paycheque rule: the principle that you should be able to buy a high-quality, long-lasting item without spending your entire paycheque. “I want this to be for everyone,” he explains. “I want everyone to be able to find something and wear it and enjoy it.” He has designed his pieces with an emphasis on practicality and timelessness—the building blocks of a wardrobe to own and enjoy for years to come.

Marshall’s curiosity is central to his story as a self-taught designer. After dropping out of fashion design at Montreal’s LaSalle College (“I hated school,” he admits), he found his way into visual merchandising for a series of fast fashion stores. With an interest in luxury, he applied to Ssense, the beloved fashion platform with headquarters in the city. With no merchandiser roles open, Rami Atallah, one of the company’s founders, suggested Marshall become a stylist. He wasn’t interested at first but ended up going back. In 2012, he started as a junior menswear stylist and then moved up the ranks. Today, in his role as a brand experience specialist, he shapes Ssense’s community events and in-person experiences.

“Having the chance to collaborate on projects with big-name global brands like Valentino and Bottega Veneta, as well as designers and celebrities such as Virgil Abloh and Pharrell, Marshall’s creative curiosity led him to an experiment: creating a simple T-shirt.”

“The challenges came when I got into the senior level and I had to do Excel sheets and [manage] money. I hadn’t done any of this—I just came in to be a creative and put clothes together,” he says self-deprecatingly. Management-level tasks like public speaking and presenting his ideas triggered panic attacks—until one of his bosses gave him some advice that stuck with him: explain your job like you did to your parents who don’t understand what you do. That simple analogy unlocked something for Marshall. “For some reason, that little moment made me think, ‘Okay, cool, I can do this.’ ” Now, Marshall delivers presentations about his nontraditional career path, with his natural intuition becoming a valued company asset.

Having the chance to collaborate on projects with big-name global brands like Valentino and Bottega Veneta, as well as designers and celebrities such as Virgil Abloh and Pharrell, Marshall’s creative curiosity led him to an experiment: creating a simple T-shirt. That T-shirt evolved into a sweater, then a hoodie, then sweatpants, and even a blazer. “It wasn’t in my mind to be like, ‘I’m going to have a brand,’ ” he says. “It just kind of unfolded naturally. I ended up with all this product and thought, ‘Shit, okay, this is actually really good. I’m going to try and see what happens.’”

If Marshall’s approach to creating a brand seems haphazard, the collections are the opposite. His carefully considered releases of what he calls core items are produced in Portugal, and knitwear is made in Italy at a factory also used by Acne Studios and Miu Miu. Each piece is designed to be as wearable as possible, with only small seasonal updates. “I might change the button on the blazer, but it’ll always be core items that you need to have for your wardrobe.”

This approach to building collections is based on his own closet, which is pared down in a way many would find aspirational. “I don’t shop that much, because I figured out how I want to look and what I want my closet to be, which I think a lot of people struggle with. So that’s also in the brand: I made it easy, like only four pairs of pants. There’s not wide legs, skinny legs, short legs—no, it’s all very simple. I’ll help you build your closet.”

Borden’s designs lean toward minimalism—clean, logo-free staples that naturally align with the quiet luxury trend. “It’s definitely going to fall into that category because it’s not logo-driven. It’s just easy and clean,” he explains. (Marshall zealously points out that “USA Today said it’s kind of like The Row, but they also charge $7,000 for a cashmere sweater.”)

The standout pieces in Borden’s collection reflect Marshall’s own capsule style of dressing. His signature look almost always includes a blazer and a white tee, staples that are central to Borden’s offerings. Take, for example, the double-breasted blazer, crafted from wool with just the right amount of sheen—it’s polished enough to surpass a standard business blazer but more relaxed than a tuxedo jacket—perfect for a night out. Marshall has also concealed the buttons for a clean, uninterrupted silhouette. “One piece of tailoring can elevate any look,” he says. “You could wear sweatpants and a blazer, and it would still look pretty chic.”

Although Borden is essentially a one-man band, Marshall leans on support from his friends at Ssense and in the industry at large. (Spencer Badu, a fellow Canadian designer, recommended his current manufacturing facility in Portugal.) Despite his progress, production comes with challenges, particularly the high costs of manufacturing and photoshoots. Marshall is learning as he goes, building relationships with factories and refining his process to balance quality, cost, and efficiency. “I’m starting to find the learning curve in how to actually make money.”

The challenges of building a brand often clash with larger market forces and shifting tastes, but Marshall’s experience at Ssense has given him a competitive edge. For instance, if he can see that leather trench coats aren’t selling at his day job, he can pivot his designs at Borden and make a coat in a more affordable material that customers are currently buying. Marshall sees Borden’s focus on consistency and quality as a response to what he calls a creative lull in the broader fashion industry. Still, he views the stagnation and revolving door of creative directors as part of fashion’s natural rhythm.

A breakthrough moment for Borden came last September when Marshall was invited to present at New York Fashion Week by the Black in Fashion Council, an organization that represents and secures the advancement of black designers. “As soon as I did that, it started to roll,” he recalls. “I was in Vogue.Different doors opened. I got asked to dress Stevie Wonder for his tour. I got asked to dress Naomi Campbell.”

Despite these milestones, Marshall knows building a brand takes time. Borden’s growth has come from word of mouth and community support, shaped by his relationships, resourcefulness, and a strong sense of independence. He’s deliberate about timing, prioritizing getting the product right before making bold moves. For now, Marshall remains focused on building a solid foundation for Borden. While he’s grateful for the support of his bosses and coworkers at Ssense, he knows he would still have to pitch to buyers like anyone else. Connections are a part of the business, but he doesn’t want to be handed anything.

Marshall’s decision-making reflects his patience to play the long game. But at its heart, Borden is guided by something
his grandmother told him after he accidentally pulled down a shelf of designer bags in her closet when he was 13: “If you want stuff like this, you have to work hard. So you have to be mindful.” It’s advice he carries in every stitch, sketch, and decision.And it’s what makes Marshall in it for years to come.

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