The Ed Hardy Apparel Story

The Ed Hardy Clothing Line has definitely the most fashionable pieces to date! Don Ed Hardy is an all American tattoo artist born in Iowa but moved to California before turning one. He became popular because of his fusion of the western style of ink art with the Japanese aesthetic techniques. Don Ed Hardy has totally broken thick barriers by penetrating into the mainstream fashion industry thanks to the help of designer Christian Audigier, the person behind the success of Von Dutch Originals. Both geniuses, they found a way of sharing the beauty of ink art to everyone without necessarily inking the skin but inking the clothes they are wearing. This idea is warmly welcomed by the different generations and the Ed Hardy by Christain Audigier Apparel went sky high. Today, there are about 12 Ed Hardy outlets worldwide located in California, Texas, New York, Wiaikiki, Dubai, Singapore, Florida, Japan, Noosa, Tucson and Dallas. Ed Hardy is continually growing as plans have been laid out to expand in the markets of Mumbai and New Delhi in India.

2002 marked the start of a great future ahead of Ed Hardy Apparel as Don Ed Hardy was consulted by the company Ku USA, Incorporated as to whether he was interested in making a line of Ed Hardy Apparel, Ed Hardy Caps, Ed Hardy Shades, Ed Hardy Bags, etc with his art as the central inspiration for the designs of the Ed Hardy Merchandises. Don Ed Hardy liked the idea very much and signed the license agreement. The collaboration was in itself already a success. Bigger companies have shown quite an interest in the Ed Hardy Merchandise so Don Ed Hardy and Ku USA, Inc. decided to establish the Ed Hardy Life LLC. The Ed Hardy Life LLC holds the license, trademark and copyrights of the Ed Hardy Merchandise Brand including apparel, accessories, shoes, perfumes, etc.

However, in 2004, another big break came Ed Hardy’s way when French designer Christian Audigier, Head Designer of Von Dutch Originals, with his two associates Josh Seda and Mike Callahan successfully licensed the rights of producing the Ed Hardy Apparel still Ed Hardy’s Ink Art as the central focus of the designs. Christian Audigier hopes that he can put in the same magic that he did in the success of Von Dutch Apparel brand into the Ed Hardy Apparel line. Christian Audigier plans to directly market the brand to A-list celebrities for the brand to gain easy popularity. Another approach Christian Audigier plans to takes is to open Ed Hardy Shops in strategically placed high fashion districts of the world. 2007 and 2008 marked the branching of the Ed Hardy stores all over the world.