The story behind the ’90s LA streetwear brand merging activism and fashion

In times of social unrest it can be easy to dismiss fashion as a shallow entity especially in light of more important humanitarian issues. However, whilst this sentiment is certainly predicated on positive priorities, fashion remains an important and effective form of macro communication. Distinct aesthetic choices can add further pointed layers of messaging to a social movement’s political statement. When T.J. Walker and Carl Jones were looking for a way to respond to the racially oppressive social climate created under President Reagan’s administration, they founded the streetwear brand, Cross Colours LA. Such is the brand’s scale of influence that the California African American Museum opened an exhibition in September 2019 to delve into how it managed to merge fashion and activism over the course of its thirty-year history.

Walker and Jones founded Cross Colours in 1990 in South Central, LA with the intention of regaining control of the black narrative. They sought to do this by redefining the public’s understanding of African Americans through their garments, advertising material and product placement choices. The duo screen printed t-shirts which championed messages of peace and positivity — their ‘Stop D Violence’ slogan frequently adorned their graphic heavy garments. Pro-black messaging was further emphasised by the red, green and black tricolor colour palette used as a visual nod to its African heritage.

Crucially, black models were the central figures of the brand’s marketing. Television and print advertising rarely provided an inclusive space for models of darker complexion in the ’90s. The brand’s advertising strategy also made effective use of product placement opportunities. In an era where streetwear brands couldn’t rely on direct-to-consumer algorithms to surface a brand on the ‘right’ Instagram feeds, Cross Colours understood which public figures connected with consumers.

The brand became widely sported by many of Hip-Hop’s icons including Diddy, Queen Latifa and Snoop Dogg—figures who represented Hip-Hop’s artistic heyday. Intriguingly, Hip-Hop had yet to be tapped into and “used as a clothing look, trend, style…anything” according to Jones.  This would make Cross Colours one of the first streetwear brands to meaningfully engage with a black art form that is now seen as integral to the movement.

Their knack for adept product placement didn’t stop there—the wardrobes of both ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ and ‘Martin’ frequently featured Cross Colours pieces. These shows were not only crowning jewels of black pop culture, but their influence also went onto define the mainstream clothing silhouettes for the entire decade. The boxy fits we associate with the ‘90s today are in part thanks to the popularity of the brand’s denim. Their jeans were cut to a specification that snugly fit at the waist but were cut considerably baggier below the hip. This specific cut has an added social layer of context in relation to the mass-incarceration of African Americans: the tight-fitting waist was a reference to the banning of belts in prison whilst the wider leg was meant to normalise the presence of a baggy silhouette beyond prison cells.

The brand’s overtly pro-Black stance, was never exclusionary of those from other racial backgrounds. As its popularity grew, so did its engagement with white middle classes. It was important for the brand to emphasise that Pro-Black causes are not Anti-White. As a wider demographic began to buy into Cross Colours, the sentiment of the brand’s tagline became increasingly self-affirming: ‘Clothing Without Prejudice’.

Following the immeasurably tragic murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others, numerous fashion brands have offered cookie-cutter condemnations of police brutality via social media without engaging meaningfully with the black experience. These messages appear to have been hurriedly conjured up by PR teams and have often wreaked of slacktivism.

In response to these events, we have been encouraged to buy from black-owned brands and demand equal race opportunities at every level of operation in an organisation. The positive influence of Cross Colours should serve as a model for why these two demands are not only necessary, but an indicator of how black-owned businesses can flourish with greater financial support in the future.

Cross Colours: Black Fashion in the 20th Century is open until August 23, 2020 at the California African American Museum