ORIGINAL GEAR

Cross Colours is Back

Walking through the Project trade show in Las Vegas, I saw a familiar face—and a familiar logo.

Carl Jones one of the founders of early-90s phenom brand Cross Colours was at the show with the newly relaunched brand featuring many of the original T-shirt graphics.

“This is just a little preview,” Jones said.

Founded in 1989—in South Central LA, as the tag says, Cross Colours was one of the first urban brands. With its bright red, green and yellow graphics, oversize fit and color-blocked styles, the brand was an instant success.

“In our third year, we shipped $80 million,” Jones said.

But as so many meteoric success stories go, the success was short-lived. Within a few years, the brand “crashed and burned,” Jones said.

But Jones said he followed his trademark and bought it back. But before an official relaunch, the designer went back to some of his original buyers to ask what they’d like to see in Cross Colour today.

“They said ‘We want to see the original stuff’—the original color-blocking, some of the original graphics,” Jones said. “I’m looking in my archives to find the ones that are appropriate for today.”

Nearly 25 years after it first debuted, Jones said the brand is more relevant than ever. Back in 1989, hip hop was a separate culture, he said. “Today, it’s part of everything.”

More information is coming; for now, there’s just a hint at www.crosscoloursLA.com.