Children's Ed Hardy Fashion Brand

Ed Hardy closes the E letter as its graphic-print filing, kept here for tattoo-inspired children's clothing - and one caution comes first: tattoo inspired t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, etc. Note: Apparel Search is NOT suggesting Tattoo's for kids. This page is about the Ed Hardy clothing. The subject of this profile is therefore garments and their printed artwork, nothing else: how the brand began in one artist's work, how it was licensed in the early 2000s, and who owned it by 2011.

Don Ed Hardy is an American tattoo artist raised in Southern California. Hardy is best known for his tattoo work and his eponymous apparel and accessories brand Ed Hardy. He became recognized for incorporating Japanese tattoo aesthetics and technique into his American style work. Those three sentences are the whole foundation of the children's clothing filed here: the prints on the t-shirts, hats and sweatshirts derive from an established artist's body of work, in a style that joined Japanese tattoo aesthetics and technique to an American approach, long before the artwork was licensed onto clothing.

Licensing the Artwork Onto Clothing in the 2000s

In the 2000s, Hardy has licensed his brand, and it is now found on a wide variety of products. This began in the early 2000s, when Hardy licensed Ku USA, Inc. to produce a line of clothing based on his art. That licensing step is what created the children's range in this directory: artwork developed as tattoo design was produced as printed clothing, with the graphic carrying the brand's identity. A children's Ed Hardy t-shirt or sweatshirt is therefore judged as printed apparel - the clarity and placement of the artwork, the weight of the garment underneath it, and how the print survives washing.

Hardy Way LLC, which owns the Ed Hardy brand and trademarks. Keep that ownership line in view, because the next facts are about that company rather than about garments. The brand and its trademarks sit in Hardy Way LLC, and it was an interest in that company - not in the artist himself - that changed hands in 2009 and 2011. For a directory profile, the distinction matters: the artist, the artwork, the trademarks and the clothing licences are four separate things.

Iconix, Hardy Way, and the 15 Percent Hardy Retains

In May 2009, Iconix Brand Group announced it had acquired a 50 percent interest in Hardy Way, LLC, the owner of the Ed Hardy brand and trademarks, which it increased to 85% in 2011. Hardy retains a 15% minority stake. Those percentages are the brand's recorded position, and no later position is stated here. A licensing group holding the majority interest explains how the name could appear across a wide variety of products in that period, children's printed clothing among them, while the artist whose work founded the brand retained a minority stake.

For parents, the practical reading of this history is simple. The children's pieces filed under this name are licensed graphic clothing: printed t-shirts for everyday wear, hats, and sweatshirts as the warmer layer. Check them as you would any printed children's garment - softness and weight of the base fabric, print quality, care instructions for keeping the artwork from cracking or fading, and a fit that suits a printed design worn loose rather than close. The artwork style is bold by design; the garment checks underneath it are the ordinary ones.

Reading This Profile

The clothing is tattoo inspired - a description of the print artwork's source - and Apparel Search is not suggesting tattoos for kids; the profile exists because the licensed clothing line included children's t-shirts, hats and sweatshirts, which belong in a complete children's brand directory alongside every other E filing.

In short: an American tattoo artist raised in Southern California, recognized for incorporating Japanese tattoo aesthetics and technique into his American style work; a brand licensed in the early 2000s, beginning with Ku USA, Inc. producing clothing based on his art; Hardy Way LLC owning the brand and trademarks; Iconix Brand Group at 50 percent in May 2009 and 85 percent in 2011, with Hardy retaining 15 percent. The official Ed Hardy site is linked in References below.