By Ameera Steward | The Birmingham Times
After losing his maternal and paternal grandfathers months apart from each other in 2025, Tajh Crutch found a new form of expression within his clothing brand Crutch Campus.
Selling luxury versions of baseball caps, T-shirts, and hoodies Crutch Campus is not only a form of self-expression for Crutch, “It’s also a lifeline.”
Crutch Campus is a luxury brand dedicated to providing resources, community, and storytelling through the lens of fashion and “a motivational brand,” explained the 35-year-old. After parting ways with his business partner and original brand Wear Brims in 2023, “I wanted to show people that just because things [don’t go as planned with] the first goal…you can always pivot and recreate something and make it better.”
“I’m using this as a motivational brand and to allow people to be involved with this process from the beginning to end…All my friends and family [are] inside of my campaign. All of the clothes…[have] meaning to it. It’s a nostalgic feeling,” he added.
“Two Pillars”
In January 2025 Crutch lost his paternal grandfather Ben Crutch, 89, and three months later lost his maternal grandfather William Jones, 87. Losing them was his first time losing someone so close to him, he said.
“Those are two pillars in my life from both sides of my family, and they passed away three months from each other, so that was very hard, and just balancing life on its own, work as well,” he said.
Dealing with the death of “these beautiful, powerful men” in his life allowed Crutch to understand that he has a bigger purpose in life.
“They always told me to be strong and be a man and my grandfather William ‘Papa’ Jones) always told me…’a good walk is better than a bad stand’ so I had to think about those words when I was going through things… let things go and just keep walking in my path,” Crutch said.
Although Crutch Campus was already an idea, it was losing his grandparents that sparked its full inception. The ways in which they raised his parents, trickled down to him, he said.
“It sparked another flame [for] me to keep going,” said Crutch, and he had to tell himself, “‘Tajh, you have a lot [of good] to give to this world and life to [live]. And my mom always told me to die empty…So get all these creative ideas out now because when that time comes I want to be able to lay freely and comfortably [knowing] I did everything I wanted to do.”
With that in mind, he took his last name and began building a community and brand that gives him the opportunity to do just that. His entire mission with Crutch Campus is rooted in making his reach longer than his stay.
“Wherever I am, whoever I touch…leaving that last impact in a positive way…I want to bridge gaps [and bring creatives together],” he said.
Making A Statement
Crutch, who has six brothers and one sister, was born in Melbourne, Florida; his family lived in Queens, New York, during his elementary school years. His stepfather was in the military, so the family moved around a lot. During Crutch’s teen years, the family lived in Enterprise, Alabama, and he went on to attend Troy University in Troy, Alabama.
Crutch, who is not married and has no children, first became interested in fashion when his dad gave him his pair of blue, red, and white Air Jordan 19s when Crutch was in the seventh grade.
“From that day, I kept up with my sneakers and made sure my clothes matched. … Before that, I didn’t care what kind of jeans I was wearing, I didn’t care about anything. When I got those Jordans, I took fashion more seriously,” said Crutch, who now resides in Atlanta, Ga.
He took his first step into designing when he and his past business partner started the fedora hat brand Wear Brims, which ended up being the first Black-owned luxury hat brand sold in Nordstrom stores. However he and his business partner parted ways, and it wasn’t until 2025 when he felt a spark to create a legacy. In June of that year, Crutch Campus debuted its first piece online called the ‘Capt. Crutch’ baseball cap which sold out within two weeks.
“Most of our baseball caps and hats would be between $65 and $90,” he said. He also currently sells his ‘Field Day’ shirts for $90, created to provide a “nostalgic feeling” with red, white and blue ribbons located on the left breast of the shirt resembling ribbons children used to win during school functions.
“Back in the day we used to get little ribbons from field day…a class fair…science fair,” explained Crutch. “I was like ‘okay, this is a dope idea’ and I put it on a pleated shirt instead of the regular cotton t-shirt…to be innovative…it [also takes people] back to a point in their life where everything [was] easy…[a time where] you can just enjoy your classmates [and] friends.”
Which is a big component of Crutch Campus — bringing together your past and the present by making it a fashion statement. Crutch also plans to create hoodies and jackets.
“Enjoying The Art”
Crutch Campus is about “being creative and…seeing people enjoying the art instead of worrying about [making] a dollar.”
In addition to being creative, he plans to incorporate scholarships and brand collaborations within the brand.
Crutch’s first collaboration was with Meals on Wheels this past year to celebrate its 60th anniversary “which was a great honor…to create that monumental piece for them.”
He designed a $65 baseball cap for his company which sold out as well as hosted a celebration held at 1705 West Commerce, Meals on Wheels headquarters in Atlanta, to celebrate the hat collaboration and the company’s 60th anniversary. All proceeds went to feeding seniors throughout the city of Atlanta.
Through the partnership with Meals on Wheels and Crutch Campus they were able to provide over 1100 meals to seniors during the holidays.
“That was very important to me,” Crutch said. “That’s why I said…Crutch Campus is [about] trying to make your reach longer than your stay. It’s not about a dollar, it’s about what you can do to help bridge those gaps and create things that can help [others].”
Crutch plans to also design products specifically made to fund scholarships he will name after his grandfathers.
HBCUs
Many programs and scholarships are dedicated to HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges & Universities] and although he believes in providing assistance to HBCUs and their students, “that’s just not my story,” he said.
“I went to a PWI [Predominantly White Institution] and I’m a Black creative…that [was] able to [become] successful,” explained Crutch. “I know there [are] other Black creatives going to PWIs…looking for that help and that push.
He plans to follow through with his goal of creating scholarships this year.
“[There are] a lot of kids that probably want to start their own business and you see [some of] them starting [their businesses] in college,” he added. “I never thought about that back when I went to school but I love to see it and…help…anywhere I can be of assistance…I’m trying to give them some knowledge and [the ability to] skip some steps that I wasn’t able to.”
For more visit https://crutchcampus.com/ IG: CrutchCampus
