BY MELISSA MAGSAYSAY | SEPT. 16, 2021 7 AM PT   This is part of Image Issue 4, “Image Makers,” a paean to L.A.’s luminaries of style. In this issue, we pay tribute to the people and brands pushing fashion culture in the city forward. Cross Colours is no stranger to being ubiquitous. Co-founded by Carl Jones and TJ Walker in 1989, the Los Angeles brand, which is often credited as being one of the first streetwear lines, became as famous as the scores of celebrities who wore it through the 1990s and early 2000s. The list includes Will Smith, Aaliyah, Tupac Shakur, TLC and Snoop...

By Faith Cummings | August 28, 2021   Nostalgia is at its peak, and everything ’90s is back again, from the music to the fashion. As style purveyors from the era, Carl Jones and TJ Walker have been both surprised and thrilled by the decade’s resurgence, as it’s meant the return of their iconic label Cross Colours, which dressed the likes of Will Smith on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, TLC, 2Pac, and countless others. “We were even surprised when we were asked to bring our brand back in the beginning,” Walker tells British Vogue over Zoom from a hotel room in New York...

By Hannah Moore and Lola Mosanya | Originally published on BBC.com, January 5, 2018   Bruno Mars' and Cardi B's new Finesse video is a tribute to 90s hip-hop, with choreography, clothing and a sound straight from the decade.   It's dedicated to 90s sketch series In Living Color which, he says, is "one of his favourite shows of all time."   He recreated the show's hand-painted intro credits, dance routines and love for clothing brand Cross Colours.   Mars has directed the video which got 13 million views in the first 48 hours of release.   Fans, celebrities and...

By Kate Atkinson | Originally published on CultureKings.com, April 19, 2018 Photo: Courtesy of Culture Kings   Cross Colours is that brand you saw everywhere in the 90s - I mean, everywhere! From Will Smith, to TLC, to Muhammad Ali, Cross Colours made its mark with bright, colourful, cut-and-sew pieces that built a legacy.   Photo: Courtesy of Culture Kings   The real legend of Cross Colours, however, is the brand's origin. Founded by Carl Jones and TJ Walker in 1989, Cross Colours was built on a single message: Clothing Without Prejudice.   Photo: Courtesy of Culture Kings   This...

By Chante Griffin | Originally published on LAWeekly.com, October 8, 2019 Photo: Courtesy of Elon Shoenholz   When designers Carl Jones and T.J. Walker launched the Cross Colours clothing line in Los Angeles in 1989, the pair had no idea it would infiltrate television and hip hop, revolutionize the fashion industry, and impact African American street culture. Now, thirty years later, the California African American Museum (CAAM) is hosting an exhibit to canonize the fashion brand, titled Cross Colours: Black Fashion in the 20th Century.    “We started the brand because we saw a void in the market in terms of...

"Cross Colours broke a glass ceiling when urban hip-hip apparel wasn't considered a formidable player in fashion and merchandising."   By Booth Moore | Originally published on WWD.com, August 1, 2019  Photo: Courtesy of Cross Colours Archive   Los Angeles is shaping up to be a destination for African-American art and history exhibitions this fall.   In addition to the career-spanning “Betye Saar: Call and Response” exhibition opening Sept. 22 at the L.A. County Museum of Art, where the L.A. artist will be honored at the annual Gucci-sponsored Art + Film Gala, The California African-American Museum will open five exhibitions,...

By Bobby Hundreds | Originally published on TheHundreds.com, July 29, 2014  Photo: Courtesy of The Hundreds    Cross Colours is back.   Well, the reality is that Cross Colours never quite went away.  In the early 1990s, Carl Jones and TJ Walker founded an urban streetwear brand that went against the drab gangbanger workwear of the time, opened the inner-city up to positivity, and introduced baggy pants to the Yo! MTV Raps generation.  Aptly named Cross Colours, the label skyrocketed overnight, draped across the backs of the biggest rappers, actors, and athletes.  But as rapidly as Cross Colours propelled into...

The brand celebrates its 30th anniversary with a retrospective at the California African American Museum   By Nadja Sayej | Originally published on Vice.com, September 22, 2019  Photo: Courtesy of Cross Colours Archive   If you watch any hip hop music video from the 1990s, chances are you’ll see dancers or performers wearing Cross Colours streetwear. The brand, founded in 1989 South Central Los Angeles by Carl Jones and TJ Walker, was created with the desire to make clothing for all people. “We did what we felt we needed to do at the time,” said Walker. "It was a void...

By Tonya Mosley & Samantha Raphelson | Originally published on WBUR.com, October 15, 2019 Photo: Courtesy of Cross Colours Archive   Cross Colours: Clothing Without Prejudice emerged during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s — and came to define the look of the era. From Will Smith on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” to the stars of “In Living Color,” it seemed that everyone was wearing the oversized shirts and shorts plastered with big, bright colors — yellow, green, red and blue. Cross Colours started 30 years ago — and it’s making a comeback. The clothing company is the focus...