How Marvin Harrell made Conner Harrell and Kaimon Rucker's suit dreams possible

When September 2004 arrived in Alabaster, Alabama, Marvin Harrell was expecting his third child with his wife, Yolanda Harrell, and working as a sales professional at Tom James Company. 

By the end of the month, Harrell had welcomed his third son, Conner Harrell, now a sophomore quarterback at UNC. Meanwhile, he left his job to start his own business, MH Custom Clothier, designing custom professional clothing. 

Twenty years later, Marvin Harrell has clientele that hail from all over the country. He has designed suits for his sons — Conner, Tyler and Kyle — who have all played collegiate football, but he has never worked with any of their teammates.

Until this summer.

For ACC Kickoff in late July, Harrell had the opportunity to work with his son and graduate rush Kaimon Rucker to design suits for the media event.

“When Kaimon and I got together, I think he was a little skeptical,” Marvin Harrell said. “But he wanted to give Conner's dad an opportunity, and I appreciate that.” 

Working as a custom clothing consultant, Harrell never expected to start his own business. But he had always dreamed of it. And when a client and good friend suggested he think about it, his wife encouraged him to take the leap.

Now, through what he says is mostly word-of-mouth recommendations, Harrell has built a vast clientele. He prioritizes convenience and relationships, often traveling to client's houses or offices for consultations. 

“I've had clients where I've fitted them, some of their employees, their kids,” Harrell said. “It's really a great job because it's lifelong friendships that are made in what I do.”

He also works with his own children. When Conner Harrell graduated high school as valedictorian, he was wearing a suit designed by his father. The duo worked together again for ACC Kickoff, as father designed and son donned a custom blue and gold plaid suit jacket with brown pants. 

Before meeting with a client in person, Marvin Harrell will have a conversation with them to discuss what they want in a suit. When they meet, he takes measurements and uses fabric swatch books to make decisions with the client to fully customize the suit. Then, Harrell has the fabric cut and tailored to the client. 

Harrell's oldest sons, Tyler and Kyle, received less recruitment attention and played college football before Name, Image and Likeness legislation. But with advances in NIL, players have more money readily available to do things like order custom suits. At power conference schools like UNC, that also rings true. 

Still, when Rucker first met with Marvin Harrell a few weeks before ACC Kickoff, he was planning on just buying a suit from Men's Wearhouse. Harrell joked that he had a one word answer to that: 

“Why?” 

After seeing Harrell's design process, Rucker was glad he chose to work with him instead. 

“He saw my vision, and he made it happen, so shout out to him,” Rucker said. “He's the one that really put this piece together.”

Rucker wore a striking pinstripe suit, which he paired with a white undershirt, sunglasses, a diamond chain and brown loafers.  

After seeing Rucker's suit on TV at ACC Kickoff, several of Conner Harrell's teammates started to ask to work with his father. With the season in full-swing, Marvin Harrell says it will be hard for players to find the time for an in-person consultation, but the increased visibility has already positively impacted his business.

“My dad has been a huge part of my life, and he's been doing this for as long as I can remember,” Conner Harrell said. “Him being able to make a suit that now a lot of people are getting to see is huge. So I'm super happy for him, and I hope we can start collaborating with more teammates.” 

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