How hip-hop fashion won over mainstream America - Threads 4 Life Corp.; includes related article - 21st Annual Report on Black Business: B.E. 100s Company of the Year

Black Enterprise, June, 1993 by Shelley Branch

This isn't supposed to happen to a start-up. In 1990, Cross Colours co-owners Carl Jones and Thomas J. Walker set out to harness the hip-hop craze with a line of street-inspired fashions for young men. Targeting blacks, they lured the masses without a shrug. On a roll, the company segued from clothing to cups and saucers, wooing high-end stores with its African-themed housewares. Next came lines for women and kids, even a special collection endorsed by Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Spinning cash out of chaos, they saw sales explode from $15 million in 1991 to $89 million in 1992.

Sound whack? Well, to borrow a Cross Colours catchphrase, "Judge 4 Yo Self." Barely three years in the business, this Los Angeles-based company has cut a mean swath in the $66 billion apparel industry, and is poised to become the nation's only black-owned fashion conglomerate. Playing off the vibrant themes of hip-hop music, its products--which range from $20 T-shirts to $800 leather jackets and $15 ceramic mugs--have been snapped up by more than 3,000 retail outlets, including department and specialty stores such as Macy's, Bullock's, Oaktree and Merry-Go-Round.

"It's an unbelievable story, all that they've done in such a short time," says Derek Tucker, president of the St. Louis-based Oaktree stores. "I've never seen anything like it in my 18 years in the business."

The hype started with affordable T-shirts and baseball caps, each accompanied by messages like "Stop D Violence" and "Educate 2 Elevate." Hip teenagers latched onto the stuff, which soon showed up on the backs of rappers and sitcom stars. In no time, the MTV generation had cozied up to the urban, ethnic look, which Cross Colours swiftly parlayed into women's fashions and tabletop items. Today, it seems, Cross Colours is stitching itself firmly into the fabric of pop--not just hip-hop--culture.

"We didn't intend to come across as a militant company," says Carl Jones, CEO and founder of Threads 4 Life Corp. d/b/a Cross Colours (commonly called Cross Colours). "We simply wanted to be known for making clothes for African-Americans. That's what our style is about, our colors, our fit." As for the other 220 million potential customers? "We figured, if they dig it, they do; if they don't, they don't."

Dig it they did. Though 1992 was a lackluster year for the rag trade, Cross Colours "was definitely one of the stars," says Robert Parola, sportswear editor for the fashion industry's Daily News Record. Make that a shooting star. Shipments in mens/boys sportswear (Cross Colours' primary market) were up only 4% in 1992; Cross Colours pulled off an increase of 493%. Having debuted on the BLACK ENTERPRISE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 last year at No. 80, with $15 million in revenues, the company has this year rocketed to 10th place, posting sales of $89 million. For these accomplishments, BE recognizes Cross Colours as its Company of the Year.

From The Surf To The Streets

Enconced in his Biedermeier-appointed office and sporting a color-blocked shirt, Jones, 38, looks more like the 25-year-old hipsters he designs for than the CEO of an $89 million company. It's a perception that he's used to, and in a way, seems to relish. "Yeah, people still come in here looking for the real owners," he winks. "We're not entertainers. We're not athletes. We are two legitimate black guys who pay taxes and don't do drugs. Some people find that hard to believe."

Others might find it surprising that Jones is jockeying his third profitable company. Born in Memphis and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Jones studied design at California's Parsons and Trade Tech schools. Anxious to do his own thing, though, he dropped out in 1982, borrowing $20,000 to start a silk-screen printing firm. There, he learned the intricacies of the garment business--seasons, timing and deadlines--and snared big clients, including Guess and Sassoon.

In 1985, eyeing bigger stakes, Jones hooked up with two white partners to launch Surf Fetish. Known for its multiprinted activewear, the company set trends by taking beachwear to the streets. Yet within three years, Jones' passion for surfer duds had washed up. "The Afrocentric movement was just beginning," he recalls. Having long stored up ideas for a black-oriented clothing line, he felt "the time was right." But unlike fashion revolutions of the past, where women's clothes have dictated style, Jones was looking elsewhere. His fashion assault would be aimed at men.

After gathering swatches of the African fabrics he intended to use in his new collection, Jones approached his Surf Fetish partners. "They thought I was crazy," howls Jones. In fact, upon hearing that the young designer was about to abandon a thriving $20 million business, everyone--bankers, colleagues and friends alike--insisted that Jones had lost his head. But the defiant 35-year-old bailed out of Surf Fetish anyway, mortaging his Beverly Hills home and selling a "few toys" (17 Harleys). In total, he raised $1 million to launch Cross Colours.