Ed Hardy: An Innovative Apparel Line

Nowadays, celebrities can be seen wearing Christian Audigier's Ed Hardy t-shirts and, pants, and trucker hats on a daily basis. Christian has figured out a way to get his designed noticed and worn by the best in the industry. Madonna, Ryan Seacrest, Britney Spears, Randy Jackson, and Paris Hilton are just a few of the many superstars who wear his clothes. So what factors drive the former chief designer of Von Dutch to search for new creative ideas? This article on Business Week explains that after leaving Von Dutch, Christian was on a hunt for a new venture. Taking note of the growing popularity of tattoos, he Googled the words 'famous tattoo artist', and came across Don Ed Hardy. Christian fell in love with Don Ed Hardy's colorful designs of dragons, skulls, and flowers and decided to license the artist's vintage design and shorten the name to Ed Hardy. The result'a long sleeve T-shirt that is decorated with colorful skull designs that sell for $92. Although pricy, Christian knows the market all too well, selling his line at high-end boutiques in Los Angeles. Learning from his previous mistakes at Von Dutch that clothing lines have a short shelf life, he's also licensed his brand to energy drinks and other manufacturers. If you have an idea, run with it. Innovation can start from simply typing in a key phrase in Google; Christian Audigier is a good example of that.