Ed Hardy

The name Ed Hardy is today very much associated with the t-shirts, pumps and baseball caps from the high-end fashion clothing range designed by French designer Christian Audigier.

The range is based on some of Hardy’s original collection of tattoo designs and can be found for purchase in just about every fashion capital of the world, from New York to Bangkok, from LA to Sao Paulo and a hundred places in between. This prestigious range certainly does not come cheap, consequently it was first seen on the rich and famous including Britney Spears, David Beckham, Peter Andre, Kanye West and also Madonna to name just a few. Since Christian Audigier signed the licence agreement to produce the range in 2004, these striking garments have slowly surfaced amongst mainstream consumers.

It is perhaps these consumers who are generally unaware of the origins of the Ed Hardy brand, and what’s more, even know who Ed Hardy is. Don ‘Ed Hardy’ was born and raised in Southern California in 1945. Through his hard work and instantly recognisable style, Hardy was soon seen as a pioneer in the field of tattooing. His style was and still is today eclectic with many influences including Japanese, surf, Cholo and American Hotrod. His passion for the art of tattooing led to much more than just inking up a persons skin with his latest design. Hardy was one of the first tattooists to take his work to the masses in the form of tattoo-as-art pieces within a gallery environment. Hardy went on to successfully curate numerous exhibitions for both gallery’s and private viewings. He was affectionately known as ‘the godfather of modern tattoo’.

Hardy no longer undertakes any tattoo work at his San Francisco based studio ‘Tattoo City’, but does still play an active part in mentoring the current artists. Since the 1960’s he has mostly concentrated on his other passions painting and drawing.