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 ...

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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. Christian Audiger

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

, 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

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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

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 ...

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

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 ...

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