Don Ed Hardy is an American tattoo artist born in Southern California, known for his tattoos, strong influence in the development of modern tattoo styles, and his eponymous apparel and accessories brand.
In 1982, Hardy and his long time friend Ernie Carafa, formed Hardy Marks Publications. Under this marque, they began publishing the five-book series Tattootime. Hardy Marks has gone on to publish more than 25 books about alternative art, including catalogs of Hardy's work and that of Sailor Jerry Collins. EEE Productions put together the first tattoo convention on the Queen Mary, as well as organizing many other tattoo conventions and expos. In 2000, he was appointed by Oakland MayorJerry Brown to the city's Cultural Arts Commission. Today, Hardy is retired from tattooing. He oversees and mentors the artists at his San Francisco studio, Tattoo City.
Brands
In the early 2000s, Hardy licensed Ku USA, Inc. to produce a clothing line based on his artwork. Within two years, the collection had drawn the interest of Saks Incorporated. Hardy and Ku USA formed Hardy Life, now Hardy Way LLC, which owns the Ed Hardy brand and trademarks. The brand has subsequently been extensively licensed, at one point having 70 sublicensees, selling clothing, accessories, lighters, perfume, hair styling tools, and condoms. The most famous licensee was Christian Audigier, previously of Von Dutch Originals, which marketed the imagery of Kenny Howard, another noted American subculture artist. Audigier licensed the worldwide rights to the Ed Hardy brand in 2005 through his holding company, Nervous Tattoo, and employed the marketing techniques employed by Von Dutch Originals, marketing directly to celebrity clients and by opening stores in high-profile fashion districts. Ed Hardy stores were located in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Honolulu, Scottsdale, Tucson, Vancouver, Dubai, Johannesburg, Kuwait, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Gurgaon, Delhi, Mumbai, and Qatar. The face of the brand was Sarah Larson. The brand gained significant popularity under Audigier, peaking at more than $700 million in gross revenue in 2009, but collapsed quickly in the following two years, leading to the closure of many stores. Among others, the Australian sublicensee of Ed Hardy entered administration and closed in 2010. Hardy blamed the collapse on creative and marketing decisions by Audigier, such as Audigier featuring his own name prominently on branded items, and prominent association with short-lived reality TV celebrityJon Gosselin. Following legal battles, Hardy regained control of the brand in 2010, though as part of the settlement Nervous remained a licensee for T-shirts, hats, and hoodies. In May 2009, Iconix Brand Group announced it had acquired a 50 percent interest in Hardy Way, LLC, the owner of the Ed Hardy brand and trademarks, which it increased to 85% in 2011. Hardy retains a 15% minority stake. In 2018, the brand successfully relaunched in Europe, and collaborations were presented with Missguided and Illustrated People amongst other brands, the latter sold via Selfridges, Asos and Topshop. In 2019, the brand carried out a further global collaboration with Rose In Good Faith . Today, Ed Hardy apparel is sold in Europe at Zalando , House of Fraser and USC as well as independents, via monobrand stores across China and at department stores globally.
