The Return of Ed Hardy
COURTESY OF JESSICA SILVERSTEIN
When we think of Ed Hardy, our minds automatically flash back to the times of the early 2000s when rhinestones, studs, neons, and tattoo designs were the big thing. Well, after a few years hiatus, the trend is back and better than ever.
Kevin Christiana, Ed Hardy’s creative director, has renewed the popularity of the brand as it has been booming on the streets. Celebrities and stores have been showing off the brand recently and we are ecstatic about it.
Prior to the rise of Ed Hardy once again, Christian Audigier’s brand took a step back for a few years. Its growing label plummeted when Jon Gosselin of the reality show, Jon & Kate Plus 8, stepped out in Ed Hardy.
“That Jon Gosselin thing was the nail in the coffin,” Don Ed Hardy, the tattoo artist himself, told the New York Post. “That’s what tanked it. Macy’s used to have a huge window display with Ed Hardy, and it filtered down and that’s why Macy’s dropped the brand.”
COURTESY OF BAUER GRIFFIN
It seemed as though all credibility of the brand went out the window when Gosselin wore an Ed Hardy t-shirt while on a yacht in Cannes in 2009 and running everyday errands. It didn’t matter if Madonna was wearing Ed Hardy the next day, Gosselin had such a negative connotation to the brand due to his “uncoolness” from the reality show that no one wanted to be seen in the same brand as him.
Don Ed Hardy also blamed the fall of the empire on his designer, Christian Audigier in the same interview with the New York Post, “Christian worships celebrities so much, he will get next to anyone who is famous for anything. If he could have gotten Charles Manson in a shirt, he would have.”
The brand’s rise in popularity began in 2019 at a speakeasy art gallery in the Lower East Side of NYC called Good Luck Dry Cleaners. They handed out mints to get rid of the bad taste the brand left in people’s mouths and also hung pictures of Jon Gosselin up wearing the loud designs of Ed Hardy to poke fun at the death of the brand back in 2009.
Through the past few years, a lot of Ed Hardy has been sold out on sites like Depop and Poshmark as Gen Z’ers love their thrifting for vintage styles. The reason for the fall of the brand was suddenly forgotten as the designs lived on.
COURTESY OF GOOD/GETTY IMAGES FOR ED HARDY
After the soft relaunching of the brand in NYC, Ed Hardy came to popular stores such as Urban Outfitters to start where a lot of the youth shop today. The brand is also celebrated with a new collection called, “By Appointment Only”, which references when Hardy used to have by-appointment-only at his tattoo shop. The new line includes graphic t-shirts, hoodies, leather jackets, embroidered denim jackets, footwear, swimwear, backpacks, outerwear, everything imaginable. Some pieces are also custom and hand-painted.
COURTESY OF SHOTBYNYP/BACKGRID
A lot of the stars have recently been stepping out in the punk Ed Hardy attire as well. Bella Hadid was seen wearing a vintage baby tee from the 2000s out in NYC while Tik Tok star, Addison Rae wore a hot pink t-shirt dress to a record executive’s birthday party. Depop also reported Ed Hardy to be the top searched trend.
Better get on it to grab an Ed Hardy piece while you can because they are running low on stock everywhere.
