When fashion and family come together, it can be a hit or miss; ranging anywhere from horrible matching acid-washed overalls to great ensembles and options. The latter is the case for Cody Johnson and his family. The Johnson family has built a successful boutique and appeal line in Stephenville, TX with Twisted J  and I was lucky enough to catch up with Cody to get the inside scoop.

Roughly six years in the making, the Johnsons set out with the intention to create something a strong as the [literal] brand their family takes pride in.

“The Twisted J brand originally started as the name of our ranch and is the brand we use on all our horses and cattle,” Cody Johnson explained. “When my wife and daughter decided to start a boutique we decided to carry the name over to the boutique as well. Four years later, after the boutique built its own following, we made the decision to start our own line of apparel by the same name. We’ve tried to be consistent with the development of our brand so there may be different businesses and interests, but ultimately they’re all serving to build the same quality reputation of our brand.”

Twisted J’s clothes suit the modern Texan, but you can definitely spot some Californian inspirations in some of their wares, and this is no accident. Though they may be a humble family brand, their reach is expansive.

“We take inspiration from so many different things from nature to fashion trends to the western lifestyle and culture,” Johnson said. “We have the absolute best artists in the country building our designs and they can take the smallest basis of an idea from anyone and bring that vision to life.”

Though I say this is a humble family brand, I use the term lightly. Twisted J offers a pretty expansive lineup for just about everyone, so you may want to think of snagging something when holiday time comes around.

“We do have apparel for men, women and children. And in each of those categories we have the Twisted J branded line as well as the lines for Classic Ropes, Cactus and Fast Back” Johnson touted “We have them all available on our website, and will be available in our new retail space as well as available to vendors and store owners for wholesale purchase.”

You may have noticed some stars getting a little twisted with their own wardrobes lately, and it’s no coincidence. The brand has some pretty notable names taking notice of the work they’ve done. Twisted J got a big push when the brand found its way into award season.

“We were contacted by a company that had been following us on social media and invited us to come be part of their celebrity gifting suite with the Golden Globes,” Johnson explained. “It was WAY outside of our comfort zone and unlike anything we’d ever done before, but we could see the potential benefit from it so we said why not? It was such a great experience and we had such great response to our products from the celebrities that when we got invited shortly afterward to be part of a similar event with the Oscars, we did that one too. We definitely made some great contacts from both events that have opened some doors into other opportunities so we’re very happy we did it!”

One of those contacts was none other than Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, who has taken a liking to the Twisted J, and the two have done great work together since then.

“We’ve always had a huge appreciation of Steven as an artist-he’s one of the greatest of all time,” Johnson explained. “When we heard through a mutual contact that he was looking for someone to host a red carpet event launching his charity, Janie’s Fund, we knew right away it was a great fit for us. Luann and I agree that it’s so important to give back and this seemed like a perfect way to do that. So we worked with Steven and his people to not only produce this one-night event, but to come up with something that we could keep on contributing and raising money for Janie’s Fund even after the event was over. We designed and produced an exclusive tee with Steven’s image, and a large percentage of the proceeds of the sales of that tee go to Janie’s Fund. It can be found and purchased from our website. We hope to continue to raise money for such a great cause for a long time to come.”

As of late, you can only see Twisted J’s collection online or at their physical location in Stephenville, but from what Johnson has hinted at, it could be worth the drive.

“Our new location in Stephenville is going to be radically different than anything we’ve done up to this point, including a stage and a bar to provide our customers with a unique, one-of-a-kind experience while they shop,” he said. “People are really going to be blown away when we have the Grand re-opening on September 17th and they see what all we’ve been up to.”