Cross Colours

Cross Colours was one of the first companies to make urban gear genuinely fashionable, harnessing the rise of hip-hop with a line of street-inspired clothes for young men. Its brightly coloured T-shirts, baggy jeans and caps quickly showed up on the backs of rappers and sitcom stars, helping establish a fashion market built around Black youth. That early role in legitimising streetwear is why the label is still talked about today.

It is the heart of the brand. Cross Colours was launched on the premise of producing clothes without prejudices, and that slogan appears on every garment. Founder Carl Jones saw the clothing as a way to broadcast political and social messages to the community, denouncing gangs and calling for racial unity. The clothes were a message as much as a product.

For fans of 90s fashion and hip-hop history, it carries real cultural weight, since these pieces helped define an era. If you are buying vintage, authenticity is the thing to watch closely, because the brand's popularity made it a heavy target for imitation. Inspect the labelling and construction carefully and buy from sellers who know the brand, and a genuine piece becomes a wearable slice of streetwear history.

Cross Colours was the brainchild of Carl Jones, an entrepreneur who studied fashion in Los Angeles and worked across various fashion ventures before starting his own T-shirt company. He launched the brand in 1989. Jones built it specifically as a vehicle to carry positive social messages to the African-American community, and that mission shaped everything the label made.

The brand made its name with affordable, brightly coloured T-shirts, jackets and caps, each carrying messages such as 'Stop D Violence' and 'Educate 2 Elevate'. Its baseball caps, baggy jeans and message-bearing tees proved especially influential. The look was bold colour, loose fits and a slogan you could read across a room.

Karl Kani, who went on to become a major name in streetwear in his own right, was among the future designers introduced through Cross Colours. That makes the label not just a clothing brand but a launchpad for talent that shaped the wider genre. Its influence stretched well beyond the garments it sold.

The brand grew fast but leaned too heavily on sales through a single national chain, Merry-Go-Round. When that retailer over-expanded and went bankrupt, Cross Colours was hit hard and the business struggled. It is a cautionary tale of a culturally huge label undone in part by concentrating its distribution in one place.

Yes. In 2014 the brand made a fresh start as a multistyle street fashion label, relaunched in the United States for Spring/Summer that year. Rather than focusing solely on African-American youth, it now targets a broader, multicultural audience, while folding the original 'clothing without prejudice' mission into that wider purpose. The comeback rides a strong wave of 90s nostalgia.

The brand is currently owned and operated by its original founders, Carl Jones and TJ Walker. That return of the people who built it gives the revived label a genuine line back to its roots, rather than being a name bought and recycled by outsiders. The founders are steering the second chapter themselves.

Since its 2014 relaunch, the collection has been carried by a range of American retailers including Jimmy Jazz, DTLR, Sheikh Shoes, Zumiez and Nordstrom, alongside the brand's official website. Stock and styles shift from season to season, so checking the official site is the most reliable way to see the current range.