Designer Spotlight: Ed Hardy

Street Stylist to the Stars

By now, you’ve probably heard of a little brand called Ed Hardy. You’ve seen it on A-list celebrities, in stores and on the street. With its eye-popping colors and bold Pacific Rim-influenced designs, the brand embodies the West Coast rock-and-roll ethos to a T. But who exactly is Ed Hardy?

Say “Ed Hardy” and blinged-out tattoo art on trucker hats, T-shirts and sneakers probably springs to mind. But Don Ed Hardy the man is actually an accomplished fine artist who works with traditional mediums like porcelain painting and printmaking. He was mentored by pioneering tattoo artist “Sailor Jerry” Collins, who made his ink engravings explode with color by inventing his own safe pigments. Collins also made the process safer and less ouchy by introducing the use of disposable, sterilized needs that caused less skin trauma.

A great admirer of the Japanese tattoo masters, Collins instilled in Hardy a love of the Asian aesthetic. Hardy went on to become the first Western tattoo artist to incorporate Japanese style and technique into his work and honed his craft by living in Japan and Honolulu for many years. Now retired, he divides his time between Honolulu and San Francisco.

Christian Audigier, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

So how did the work of this genius make the leap from art gallery to the apparel seen on stars from Madonna to Britney to Beckham? French fashion designer and marketing maven Christian Audigier, the brains behind brands like Von Dutch and Diesel, licensed Hardy’s art and put it on all the stuff you see in stores today.

Growing up in Avignon in southeastern France, Audigier longed to be a rock star. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to sing or play an instrument, but he decided he could still look the part by dressing like one. Today, he has the proud distinction of dressing many of them. “Fashion is nothing without celebrity,” he sagely observes.

Audigier describes Ed Hardy as “taking street couture to the next level.” According to him, “[It’s] more than a brand; it’s a lifestyle.” Overblown? Maybe. But when you consider that Ed Hardy has made its mark on everything from shoes to champagne to custom motorcycles and even a Las Vegas nightclub, maybe not.

Breathing New Life Into Fashion

People can’t seem to get enough of his stuff. Why? It’s cool, accessible, colorful, glitzy and edgy all at once. It’s almost as if it were designed with the Torrid diva in mind! Moreover, it represents California’s mellow attitude. With its freshness and youthful energy, it’s the antithesis of New York, the formerly undisputed fashion capital of the U.S.

This year saw the launch of Ed Hardy Fragrances, and you can be sure that Audigier will keep on cranking out Ed Hardy everything as long as the frenzy continues unabated. With stores worldwide from Tokyo to Tel Aviv, the brand that Audigier built seems poised for global domination. Hey, when Michael Jackson, the self-appointed King of Pop, declares you “the King of Fashion,” you must be doing something right.

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