Christian Audigier (; 21 May 1958 – 9 July 2015) was a French fashion designer known for the Ed Hardy and Von Dutch clothing lines.

Early life

Christian Audigier was born on 21 May 1958 in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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

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. 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

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, Levi's, Diesel, Fiorucci, 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, also known as Von Dutch, 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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, and later Ashton Kutcher and Eric Church. Audigier helped popularize the brand, but left on amicable terms in 2007. He went on to popularize the Ed Hardy brand. Audigier's other brands include SMET with French singer Johnny Hallyday. 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 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. 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 to Iconix Brand Management Group.

Personal life

He had four children: Crystal, Dylan, Rocco and Vito. Audigier resided in the Mid-Wilshire section of

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Death

Audigier was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood cancer, in January 2015. He died on 10 July 2015 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, after lapsing into a coma.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 bone cancer in California