Christian Audigier (; 21 May 1958 – 9 July 2015) was a French fashion designer known for the
Ed Hardy
Don Ed Hardy (born 1945) is an American tattoo artist known for his tattoos, strong influence on the development of modern tattoo styles, and his eponymous apparel and accessories brand.
Early life
Hardy was born on January 5, 1945, in Des Moi ...
and
Von Dutch
Von Dutch is an American multinational fashion brand posthumously named after Kenny Howard, a.k.a. "Von Dutch", an American artist and pinstriper of the Kustom Kulture movement. After Howard's death in 1992, his daughters allowed Ed Boswell ...
clothing lines.
Early life
Christian Audigier was born on 21 May 1958 in
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Career
Audigier began working in the fashion industry at the age of fifteen. He designed a line of denim that was inspired by his love for rock and roll, specifically
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
. His designs became so popular that a top executive from
MacKeen Jeans took notice of Audigier's talent, affording him the opportunity to create with the company and travel the world. He moved to New York in his early twenties to expand his own brand. He worked with
Guess
A guess (or an act of guessing) is a swift conclusion drawn from data directly at hand, and held as probable or tentative, while the person making the guess (the guesser) admittedly lacks material for a greater degree of certainty. A guess is als ...
,
Levi's
Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...
,
Diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
,
Fiorucci
Fiorucci () is an Italian fashion label founded by Elio Fiorucci in 1967. The first Fiorucci shop exposed Milan to the styles of Swinging London and to American classics such as the T-shirt and jeans. By the late 1970s, the direction of stylis ...
,
Bisou Bisou and
XOXO, Smet, among others.
He then moved to Los Angeles where he would achieve most of his success as a fashion designer. After the death of artist
Kenny Howard
Kenneth Robert Howard (September 7, 1929–September 19, 1992), also known as Dutch, Von Dutch, or J. L. Bachs (Joe Lunch Box), was an American motorcycle mechanic, artist, pin striper, metal fabricator, knifemaker and gunsmith.
Early li ...
, also known as
Von Dutch
Von Dutch is an American multinational fashion brand posthumously named after Kenny Howard, a.k.a. "Von Dutch", an American artist and pinstriper of the Kustom Kulture movement. After Howard's death in 1992, his daughters allowed Ed Boswell ...
, in 1992, Howard's daughters sold the Von Dutch name to Ed Boswell who then began working together with Michael Cassel and Robert Vaughn to create the Von Dutch brand. Later, Tonny Sorensen would be brought in as an investor and would become a 51% owner of the company while Michael Cassel owned 49%. It was Tonny Sorensen who initially brought in Christian Audigier. The clothing brand that followed gained popularity in the US and attracted the attention of celebrities such as
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
,
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
,
Milen Balasov Milen ( bg, Милен) is a Bulgarian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Milen Bonev (born 1986), Bulgarian football player, currently playing for Kaliakra Kavarna as a defender
* Milen Dobrev (born 1980), Bulgarian weig ...
,
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...
, and later
Ashton Kutcher
Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a S ...
and
Eric Church
Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released nine studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billboar ...
. Audigier helped popularize the brand, but left on amicable terms in 2007. He went on to popularize the
Ed Hardy
Don Ed Hardy (born 1945) is an American tattoo artist known for his tattoos, strong influence on the development of modern tattoo styles, and his eponymous apparel and accessories brand.
Early life
Hardy was born on January 5, 1945, in Des Moi ...
brand.
Audigier's other brands include SMET with French singer
Johnny Hallyday
Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France.
During a career spanning 57 ...
.
Audigier's brands are sold internationally in over 40 countries.
In 2008, he joined forces with a small cooperative in France, Montpeyroux Estates, to release a line of fine wines. The bottles are wrapped with labels that are designed with the classic Ed Hardy designs and are done by art director and photographer Barry Sutton.
Audigier was a partner along with Pure Management in a nightclub in the
Treasure Island Hotel and Casino
Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (also known as Treasure Island Las Vegas and "TI") is a pirate-themed hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA. It includes 2,885 rooms and a casino. The resort is owned and operat ...
in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
.
The nightclub closed in September 2010.
He released a line of Ed Hardy perfumes for men and women. In 2012, he appeared on an episode of ''
Sweden's Next Top Model''.
In 2011 Christian Audigier sold
Ed Hardy
Don Ed Hardy (born 1945) is an American tattoo artist known for his tattoos, strong influence on the development of modern tattoo styles, and his eponymous apparel and accessories brand.
Early life
Hardy was born on January 5, 1945, in Des Moi ...
to Iconix Brand Management Group.
Personal life
He had four children:
Crystal, Dylan, Rocco and Vito. Audigier resided in the
Mid-Wilshire
Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district.
Geography
City of Los Angeles bounda ...
section of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
Health problems and death
Christian Audigier was diagnosed with
myelodysplastic syndrome
A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may ...
, a blood cancer, in January 2015. He died 10 July 2015 at
Cedars-Sinai Hospital
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, after lapsing into a coma. He was 57 years old.
Christian Audigier, Fashion Designer, Dies at 57
New York Times; accessed 13 July 2015.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Audigier, Christian
1958 births
2015 deaths
Deaths from myelodysplastic syndrome
French fashion designers
Businesspeople from Avignon
French expatriates in the United States
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from bone cancer