Hardy said the character associations ruined the brand’s reputation, and even wrote in the book that a Macy’s buyer mentioned Gosselin when the line was dropped from Macy’s stores. Gosselin infamously donned Ed Hardy-printed shirts in public appearances with alleged mistress Hailey Glassman, and visited France to meet with Audigier. ![]() At its height, Ed Hardy clothing could be seen on celebrities from Madonna and Catherine Zeta Jones to cast members of “Jersey Shore” and Jon Gosselin of the “Jon and Kate Plus 8” reality show. The brand’s omnipresence was enhanced by famous fans. By 2009, sales exceeded $700 million for the brand, according to the book, and Hardy’s work could soon be seen everywhere. ![]() This deal turned out to be enormously profitable. Hardy said he and an associate met Audigier and signed over the master license to much of his artwork, allowing Audigier to produce items featuring the images. The two ran Ku USA, an Asian-influenced casual wear brand, and they became the first to put Hardy’s images on clothing.įrench fashion businessman Christian Audigier came across the shirts and approached Hardy to do a licensing deal that would make him “a global phenomenon,” Hardy wrote in the book. In 2003, the artist was approached by two men who saw his work in Juxtapoz art magazine. Hardy’s forays into clothing started with silkscreen shirts bearing his artwork for sale in his shop. His 1995 gallery show, “Pierced Hearts and True Love: A Century of Drawings in Tattoos,” prompted a New York Times article that asked whether tattooing could be fine art.ĬNN Health: Understand the risks and precautions of tattoos He opened his San Francisco tattoo shop, Tattoo City, in 1977 and is credited with helping transform tattooing from a mark of sailors and prisoners to a mainstream option for self-expression. Both men influenced the heraldic aesthetic that defines Hardy’s signature ornate images today. He went on to study in Japan with legendary tattoo artist Horihide, working with clients from the infamous yakuza, or Japanese mafia. After turning down a graduate position at the Yale School of Art, according to his memoir, he met and began a correspondence with famed tattoo artist “Sailor Jerry” Collins in 1969. He had his first exhibition at the Laguna Beach Art Festival after graduating high school and attended the San Francisco Art Institute. ![]() As a preteen, he took pens and colored pencils to the skin of neighborhood friends and became an amateur tattoo artist in his neighborhood. “People began globally to know my images, my name and my signature, but they didn’t know there was a real person behind it,” Hardy told CNN.ĭonald Edward Hardy was born in Newport Beach, California, and his mother began to encourage him to draw when he was 3. Co-written with biographer Joel Selvin, the book shares how Hardy went from college-educated fine artist to tattoo pioneer to one of the most polarizing brands in recent memory. Now, he is stepping out from behind the large shadow of the Ed Hardy brand to set the record straight in “ Wear Your Dreams: My Life in Tattoos,” a memoir released in June. It seemed like the deal of a lifetime, but in hindsight, Hardy said, the agreement made his name synonymous with the “douches” of pop culture and ultimately cheapened his personal brand. ![]() The name Ed Hardy conjures visions of rhinestone-studded trucker hats, colorful cartoon skulls, dragons and koi fish, and reality stars like Jon Gosselin and the cast of Jersey Shore.Ī profitable licensing deal with French businessman Christian Audigier put Hardy’s work on clothing, energy drinks, fragrances and even tanning lotions.
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