Tie Ave. is owned and operated by Jesse Gilkey IV. He personally makes bow ties under the name, BartXV. Using another name, Sankofa Ties, he sells ties that represent African countries. While living in China for seven years, where he learned how to make bow ties, he experienced all the good and bad that comes with living there as a Black male. He would also occasionally travel to Guangzhou and would witness large communities of Africans living and working together in a way he has never seen before. This gave him a new sense of African pride in the midst of a very prejudiced China. His goal is to have every African, domestic and abroad, wearing one (or three) of his ties.
