Ed Hardy Clothing - A History
What do Madonna, Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg and Sylvester Stallone all have in common? No, it’s not the newest romantic scandal in Hollywood - In recent years one line of clothing has been by worn by all these celebrities and many more. It’s not Gucci, Louis Vuitton or Burberry, it’s Ed Hardy clothing, the hottest new brand by French designer Christian Audigier.
Don Ed Hardy, legendary tattooist, is the namesake of this unique brand of clothing. His Japanese meets American style of work is idolised around the world, and he is known in many tattoo circles as “The Godfather of Modern Tattoo”.
In 2004, Christian Audigier approached Don Ed Hardy with an idea for a new clothing line based on his style of tattooing. Hardy agreed to the idea, knowing that Audigier had previously designed lines for brands such as Urban Outfitters, Diesel and Von Dutch. If anyone could bring his tattoos to life in a clothing line, then it was Audigier.
Although the Ed Hardy range has become a hit across the globe, it has taken hold in Hollywood more than anywhere else. Britney Spears was recently spotted in the designer’s Hollywood warehouse picking out gifts, and Madonna has an item of Ed Hardy clothing on almost daily.
The reason for this success is Audigier’s unique marketing style. He networks more than any other designer in order to get clients to wear his clothes as often as possible. When you consider how often some of these celebrities are photographed, it ends up being a very lucrative way of advertising. Giving away free merchandise is far cheaper than forking out hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to use the same celebrities in ad campaigns. In fact, the official site of the brand has a “Celebrity Gallery” section which is a selection of pictures of Audigier with his various celebrity clients.
The line is, however, not just for celebrities. As designer ranges go it is fairly reasonably priced, with girl’s t-shirts starting from $62 and men’s from $57. It is also worth noting that the whole range is based on a tattoo style that has endured for decades, so you can buy the clothes knowing that the Ed Hardy range will not be going out of fashion any time soon.
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