Cross Colours

Cross Colours is an American clothing and streetwear brand launched in 1989 by entrepreneur and designer Carl Jones. The label emerged in Los Angeles at a time when hip-hop, youth culture, and politically expressive graphic fashion were becoming increasingly influential. Its founding premise was summarized by the phrase "Clothing Without Prejudice": garments were intended not merely as fashion items, but also as vehicles for positive social and political communication. The brand developed a distinctive visual identity around bright colors, loose silhouettes, and prominent graphic messages. Its early range included T-shirts, jackets, baseball caps, and baggy jeans. Slogans such as "Stop D Violence" and "Educate 2 Elevate" addressed violence prevention, education, racial unity, and community uplift. This approach positioned Cross Colours within an emerging market for urban clothing while giving the products a message-oriented character that distinguished them from more conventional youth apparel. Jones studied fashion at Otis Parsons School of Design and Trade Technical College in Los Angeles before working in several fashion-related businesses. He first established a T-shirt company and later created Surf Fetish, a business associated with the period's beachwear trends. Thomas Walker, a graphic designer who became a senior figure in the Cross Colours operation, also contributed to the development of the label's visual language. Cross Colours subsequently became associated with the wider growth of hip-hop fashion and helped make urban clothing commercially visible to a broad youth audience. Its garments were worn by rappers and television performers, increasing the brand's cultural reach. The label's expansion was heavily dependent on the national retail chain Merry-Go-Round. According to the brand's historical account, retailer expansion and the chain's eventual bankruptcy placed significant pressure on Cross Colours and contributed to a major decline in the business. The episode illustrates the vulnerability of an apparel label whose distribution was concentrated in one important retail partner. Cross Colours made a new start in 2014 as a multistyle street-fashion label. The relaunched business retained the original anti-prejudice philosophy but broadened its intended audience beyond African American youth to a wider multicultural market. Its products were again distributed through American retailers, including Jimmy Jazz, DTLR, Sheikh Shoes, Zumiez, and Nordstrom, according to the brand's documented history. Cross Colours is described as being owned and operated by original founders Carl Jones and TJ Walker. Its enduring significance lies in combining commercially accessible streetwear with explicit social messaging and in its role in the early development of the urban-fashion market.

Cross Colours was conceived by Carl Jones, a Los Angeles entrepreneur with formal training at Otis Parsons School of Design and Trade Technical College. Before establishing the label, Jones worked in fashion-related businesses and operated a T-shirt company. He also founded Surf Fetish, which benefited from the popularity of beachwear. These earlier activities gave him experience in product development, graphic apparel, and youth-oriented fashion before the creation of Cross Colours. The brand launched in 1989 with an explicit social purpose. Rather than treating clothing as a neutral consumer product, Jones intended Cross Colours to communicate messages to African American communities and, eventually, to a broader audience. Its central idea, "Clothing Without Prejudice," presented fashion as a means of encouraging racial unity and challenging social problems. The label's graphics included messages opposing violence and promoting education, including "Stop D Violence" and "Educate 2 Elevate." Thomas Walker, a graphic designer who later became a vice president of Cross Colours, played an important role in the label's creative development. Together, the company's design and communications approach produced a recognizable assortment of colorful T-shirts, jackets, baseball caps, and loose-fitting jeans. The clothing combined the visual energy of emerging hip-hop culture with accessible prices and direct social statements. Cross Colours became one of the early companies to make urban clothing fashionable as a distinct commercial category rather than treating it simply as informal or niche apparel. The brand's visibility increased as its products were adopted by teenagers, rappers, and television performers. Its popularity helped connect streetwear with mainstream entertainment and contributed to the growing commercial importance of hip-hop-influenced fashion. The label also provided an early platform for designers including Karl Kani, who was associated with the brand's formative period. Commercial growth created a significant distribution risk. Cross Colours became overly dependent on the national retail chain Merry-Go-Round. The retailer's expansion and later bankruptcy severely affected the label, contributing to a collapse in its original business momentum. This downturn interrupted the brand's first phase even though its cultural influence continued. In 2014, Cross Colours relaunched in the United States as a multistyle street-fashion label. The new phase preserved the original commitment to clothing without prejudice while widening the target customer base to include a broader multicultural audience rather than focusing specifically on African American youth. The relaunch was supported by distribution through retailers such as Jimmy Jazz, DTLR, Sheikh Shoes, Zumiez, and Nordstrom. The brand is documented as being owned and operated by its original founders, Carl Jones and TJ Walker. Its history is therefore defined by three connected developments: the creation of socially explicit urban clothing, the rapid growth and distribution challenges of its first era, and a later revival that reinterpreted the original mission for a broader streetwear market.

• 2014

  United States relaunch

  [1]Cross Coloursen.wikipedia.org

  Cross Colours returns as a multistyle street-fashion label, broadening its intended audience to a wider multicultural market while retaining its original social mission.

• 1989

  Cross Colours launches

  [1]Cross Coloursen.wikipedia.org

  Carl Jones launches Cross Colours with the stated aim of creating clothing without prejudice and using apparel to communicate positive social and political messages.

Socially conscious, multicultural streetwear built around the principle of "Clothing Without Prejudice."

• Tops · 1989

  Graphic T-shirts

  Graphic T-shirts were among Cross Colours' defining early products. They used bright colors and prominent printed statements to connect everyday apparel with messages about violence prevention, education, racial unity, and community uplift. Their accessible format helped the brand reach teenagers and made the label's social positioning immediately visible.

• Outerwear · 1989

  Jackets

  Cross Colours jackets formed part of the brand's colorful urban-clothing assortment. Like its T-shirts and other garments, the jackets were designed within the label's loose, street-oriented visual language and could carry the brand's message-led graphics. They contributed to the broader wardrobe concept rather than representing a single technical or performance category.

• Headwear · 1989

  Baseball caps

  Baseball caps were a visible accessory in Cross Colours' original product range. They extended the label's bright-color and logo-driven identity beyond full outfits and helped make its streetwear aesthetic easy to adopt. The caps were part of the broader urban-fashion assortment that connected the brand with hip-hop-influenced youth culture.

• Bottoms · 1989

  Baggy jeans

  Baggy jeans represented the relaxed silhouette associated with Cross Colours' early urban-fashion collections. Their loose fit complemented the label's colorful tops, jackets, and caps and reflected the wider streetwear vocabulary of the period. They helped establish Cross Colours as a complete apparel label rather than a graphic T-shirt specialist.

• 2014

  Relaunch as a broader multistyle streetwear labelStrategy

  Background

  After the disruption associated with its original retail model, Cross Colours returned to the United States with a renewed street-fashion offer. The brand retained its anti-prejudice philosophy but no longer focused exclusively on African American youth.

  Action taken

  The relaunch broadened the intended audience to a wider multicultural customer base and positioned the company as a multistyle streetwear label.

  Aftermath

  The collection was reported as being available through American retailers including Jimmy Jazz, DTLR, Sheikh Shoes, Zumiez, and Nordstrom.

  Source

1. 1Cross Coloursen.wikipedia.org