KC clothing brand started to spread a simple message of Black love in the metro
.jpeg "Jeff Harris, founder of The Black Love Co. sells his positive image apparel online and at events around Kansas City. He said he’s motivated by seeing customers wearing his T-shirt design.")
Jeff Harris grew up in Kansas City hearing people use the phrase “Black is beautiful” all the time. It wasn’t until he was a young adult, that he realized some people saw Blackness as a negative. So he made it his mission to promote Blackness as positive.
Harris began to encourage people to be proud of their Blackness, whether it was their skin, hair, culture, or history. He never missed a chance to show pride in his people.
Years later, he would turn that pride into a business called The Black Love Co., clothing made to express the love he felt for the community and the love he wanted Black people to feel about themselves.
Harris’s designs on t-shirts, hoodies and other apparel are straightforward, often a heart filled with words “Black Love” or “Love Black Women.” Each with a message of Black love.
For him, the brand is not just a slogan, it is an unapologetic declaration for his passion for the Black community.
Recently Harris sat down with the Star’s culture and identity reporter J.M. Banks to talk about getting his start in the clothing game, creating a brand built on love and hopes of starting a festival build around music, art and fashion.
Banks: For those who may be unfamiliar with you, how do you describe The Black Love Co.?
Harris: Well, The Black Love Co. I would describe it as basically an ecocentric brand. I would describe it as an empowerment brand. I am saying, just because it is a message that needs to be heard. It is a message that needs to be seen.
It is something that we definitely need to voice more often. And honestly, one thing that motivated me is that it has been 20 to 25 years and it is still not a message that you really hear like that.
Was there a specific moment or experience that sparked the idea for starting the brand?
Yeah, there definitely was. I was out at a concert out in St. Louis, and I did not know anybody. I was in St. Louis, I am from Kansas City, but it just felt like home. Just seeing all the different faces, just all the different Black people, different culture, and then just feeling at home, just feeling the love, just feeling the same type of people, just not knowing anybody and feeling like I knew everybody.
And so at that time, I was making t-shirts. I had my own brand before called Crown King, and I kind of needed something else. And so I thought, I was like, I am going to do something with this feeling that I got out of that concert.
Fast forward six months, we had the George Floyd protests and things like that, and we had the Black Lives Matter movement. And I kind of wanted to put my own spin on it. Because when people were saying Black Lives Matter, then it would be a whole conversation where people would say All Lives Matter. It is a simple message. It is what it is, and there is no rebuttal.
Before launching The Black Love Co. what was your relationship to fashion, design, and entrepreneurship?
Yeah, so back in 2009, really my first love was actually art. I did not like the trends at the time. There was a piece that I drew and I made a logo and called it the Crown King Company.
And so I was doing the Crown King for a long time before, just making t-shirts, kind of just displaying my art and things on t-shirts with that and trying to make Crown King a brand.
And then I just kind of stumbled into The Black Love Co, which I was calling Hard Black Lives at first. I actually changed the name last year, and it was one of those things where it was like, man, I wish I would have thought of that in the beginning.
Can you kind of describe the design for The Black Love Co apparel that you provide?
So the main logo is just a heart. Inside the heart it says Black men or Black women. And then we also have another one that says Love Everything Black. Those are the main three logos. And I am also starting to incorporate some of my artwork on there as well.
Are there any particular artists or movements who have shaped the message behind your brand?
I mean, other than the whole thing around the Black Lives Matter movement, that is really where my brand was birthed. But as far as artists and things, I cannot really say. I am an artist. There are usually artists in the city that I admire.
I would say, I cannot say that they gave me inspiration for it, but I really enjoy Warren Harvey and how he does Black artwork. There are a few other artists.
How do you balance celebrating Black love in a way that feels honest and authentic and not just creating a marketing slogan?
That is a great question, because I honestly think about that a lot. That is a great question. And sometimes I do kind of feel guilty. I do not feel guilty, but I do notice it. I do think that sometimes the lines can be blurred.
It is really just that this really was in my heart. Even growing up as a kid, my little cousins would call me the ultimate Black man just because I was always about Black. Black is beautiful. I love Black.
So I really think the way I differentiate that is just in my genuineness. It is not just to make a dollar. It is really to put out a message.
When someone picks up one of your t-shirts or a piece of your clothing from The Black Love Co, what do you hope they notice first upon seeing it?
First thing I hope they notice is the quality. I pride myself on having a quality shirt. I run into people all the time who say, man, I bought this shirt three years ago, I bought this shirt five years ago, and I still wear it. It is one of my favorite shirts. So that is the first thing I want them to realize, the quality of it.
When they wear your brand, what do you want the wearer to feel when they are wearing it?
I want them to feel proud. I want them to feel proud that they are displaying the message that other people need to hear and see. I feel like that is one thing that I have done successfully, that when people come and tell me, this is one of my favorite shirts.
I wore it in the airport and I was getting chased down in the airport. People were asking me where I got the shirt, who I got it from. That is really the feeling that I want people to have. And it is really not even about, when I think about the shirts, it is not about the people who are wearing the shirt. I actually think more about the people who see them wearing the shirt and the message and the feeling that they get when they see that.
Can you walk me through the creative process that you go through for creating your design ideas for the apparel?
Yeah, the creative process. My main designs are very basic, so it did not really take too much process with those. But now that I am trying to branch more into doing my artwork, my creative process is really just kind of a quiet place, maybe playing some music, R&B, like 90s R&B, and just kind of vibe and let it go.
A lot of inspiration I get, honestly, is from just people on my Facebook. One of my designs is actually just a random picture I saw on Facebook, and I inboxed someone and said, hey, can I use your picture? And they were like, “Okay, yeah, no problem.” And so I used the actual picture and then added some artistry behind it.
What is some of the feedback you have received over the years from people who patronize your brand?
The main feedback I get is, it is my favorite shirt. I always get asked where I got it from.
Some more things I get are that I get dirty looks in the airport from some other people. And then also, a lot of people have met people when wearing the shirt. As far as like, they are wearing a Love Black Men shirt or a Love Black Women shirt, and it makes it more approachable as far as asking about the shirt or the Black Love shirt. It starts a conversation, and people will tell me how they started a relationship just from the conversation piece of the shirt.
Why do you think the message may make people uncomfortable to where they would stare at someone wearing it?
Man, that is an issue in society. That is one I do not even understand myself, honestly. I have only heard a few stories like that but not a lot. I get some here and there, but they stand out. I have actually only gotten one negative comment while I was wearing a shirt, and I wear a shirt every day, for five years.
A lot of comments are like, what about us. Like Black women wearing the Love Black Men shirt, they will say they get comments from white men and they say, well, what about us. So I guess they feel kind of excluded, but that is not the purpose of the brand.
What has been the biggest challenge for you getting the brand off the ground and marketing it out to the community?
The biggest challenge? My biggest challenge, honestly, if I am being frank, I think my biggest challenge is me. Just as far as knowing how to do it and what to do and going about it.
However, I definitely have received some help, just talking with people on how to do things. “The Porter House” has helped me out a lot. I have been through their cohort as far as doing pitches on how to pitch the brand and things along those lines.
But the biggest obstacle has just been exposure. When people see it, they love it. Most of the time they just buy it. I have been going out of town, branching out and going to different cities and getting the same reception that I got here in Kansas City when I first started.
I have been to Memphis. Memphis was really great. I went down to Memphis, went down to Dallas, went out to Washington, DC. We did a HBCU football game out there for Hampton and Howard.
Actually, coming up this week, I am going back out for the basketball game, Hampton versus Howard.
How would you describe Kansas City’s current ecosphere for Black designers and clothing brand creators?
I think it is a great space. I think there is room for everyone. I feel like we are on the cusp of something big. As far as the city is growing, I feel like we are getting more exposure in every market.
I think the climate for us is great, honestly. There are a number of brands that are making names for themselves, being recognizable. We are getting a lot of support from the community as far as a lot of people only wearing local brands and things now.
Do you ever get a chance to collaborate or work with any of the other local brands in the city?
I have not really been able to take advantage of it. I have not really taken advantage of a few that I would really like to work with. I am really open to working with anyone, honestly, as long as we are saying the same thing as far as our message.
But I have not really been able to collab much with many people. I think people think, I do not know, that it is too big or something, but it is not. Man, I am local. I am grassroots. I still feel like I am on the ground level trying to take off.
How do you see The Black Love Co fitting into the larger landscape of Black-owned brands here in Kansas City?
I feel like I am a part of it already. Honestly, I am friends with a lot of local business owners. A lot of local business owners wear my shirt. I feel like I am there. I feel like we are there.
Honestly, I run into people who know the brand and they do not even know me.
Beyond clothing, what kind of conversations or connections do you hope your brand sparks in the community?
I honestly hope that my brand can spark the conversation of self love within the Black community.
I also want it to bring up the conversations around Black issues, even going back to issues in the Black family. Why is the Black man not recognized as a family man, even though the majority of Black men are. We are the highest percentage of any ethnicity that is in their child’s life. Things like that. I want all the Black issues to be raised while wearing it.
What has been the greatest lesson you have learned in your five years of being a small business owner here in Kansas City’s fashion and apparel scene?
The greatest lesson I learned is keep kicking, keep kicking. Just keep going. Keep going even when it is not looking good. People are always watching. People are always supporting. Even when I fall off, there is somebody else out there supporting, putting my name out there with someone, putting me in spaces.
Was there ever a time that you did consider quitting? And if you did, what was the thing that kept you going?
I definitely considered quitting. The thing that kept me going is somebody walking, like being out and about and seeing somebody wearing my shirt. Seeing people wear the shirt proudly, not even knowing that it is me.
Just driving down the street, I see somebody wearing the shirts, or people will inbox me and ask me to make them different colors. People inviting me into their spaces to be in, or offering to sell my shirts at their place of business. Those are the things that honestly have kept me going.
It has been a few times where it felt like it was not getting the headway that I wanted it to, that it was kind of draining me financially. Honestly, just the support that I would receive is what made me keep going.
When you think about the future of The Black Love Co., how do you envision its growth and evolution?
So my ultimate dream for the growth of The Black Love Co. is to be able to put The Black Love Co. in a position to name a stadium, like The Black Love Co Stadium. That is my ultimate dream. That is the ultimate goal, to be a brand name that can name a stadium.
So in 2026, I want to do a Black Love Festival. That is the thing that I want to focus on in the immediate future, just doing a Black Love Festival to celebrate everything Black.
