Syouji Kawaguchi learned shoemaking at the esteemed Tresham Institute in the UK. He visited the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery while he was studying there and was fascinated by the beautiful hand welted shoes on display. From that point, he focused on making traditional British hand welted shoes. He also learned the craft with Paul Wilson who was a shoemaker at George Cleverley, and John Lobb Paris for three years.

He returned to Japan in 2008 and opened up his own atelier in 2011. The goal of Marquess is to make elegant shoes with a perfect fit. Kawaguchi says that there are three main factors to consider: last-making, which is one of the cores of shoe making; making customers wear test shoes for several days to really understand how to fit the perfect shoes; and to use very high quality leather. He believes that no matter how skilled the shoemaker is, it is impossible to make good shoes without good leather.