About Us

My name is Shannon Jones. My partner and I founded Jata because we wanted to share the custom made beanies I've created over the past decade. I own the Timeout at Shannon's Barber Salon, located in Chicago, Illinois.

I've had locks for about 35 years, and the only drawback I I had over the years with having my dreadlocks was not being able to wear all of the hats I wanted to wear. I could never seem to find hats that I could rock when I went out.  

I would see everyone without locks rocking Beanies or other cool caps while going out and I would say that I need to make a funky beanie for my dreaded family. 

I searched on the internet to find out what type of hats were available for people with dreadlocks and braids, and to my surprise the only hats available were knitted caps which only covered a certain portion of the head especially if your locks were a little past the shoulder.

My concept for Jata was to create a beanie for dreads. That's it, something that I could wear with my turtle neck sweater, a hoodie or even a suit.

Since there was nothing was out there in the market, and it just made sense that I dig deep with the idea. I bought hats and customized holes (I call portals) in them. Once I had a few prototypes, I knew I was on to something as the feedback was extremely positive. 

At this point my wife would say please stop wearing these caps before someone starts taking pictures and steal your idea. Which made me work faster.

Jata's goalis  to provide people of locks, braids and ponytails with a branded lifestyle geared toward the art of living.