California Apparel News

French-born designer Christian Audigier believes there is a lot more juice left in American tattoos.

Audigier started the vintage tattoo–based Ed Hardy fashion line eight months ago. The line’s staples include caps and T-shirts bearing tattoo designs such as tigers, apes and devils, which were created by San Francisco–based painter and tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy. Audigier announced Sept. 30 that he would unveil a luxury line of tattoo-inspired clothes bearing his name during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios, Oct. 16–20.

He will also open a Christian Audigier boutique at 7819 Melrose Ave. on Dec. 1. The Ed Hardy/Christian Audigier fashion event is scheduled to take place Oct. 20 at Element nightclub in Hollywood.

The 1,500-square-foot Melrose boutique is expected to earn about $4 million annually, according to Audigier. He predicted his company will earn more than $12 million in 2005 and will double its revenue in 2006.

His empire of tattoos will be a platform for his ultimate goal: to build a fashion brand around his name. “Marc Jacobs was a nobody a few years ago, but when I saw his store on Melrose open in March, I thought, ’Why not me?’” Audigier said.

Audigier will design the boutique, which will be painted in hues of black and ecru and outfitted with leather couches emblazoned with his brand’s logo, a crest bearing his initials. The look of the boutique will be in contrast to the biker-shop chic of the Ed Hardy boutique at 7829 Melrose Ave. Although the merchandise is different, Audigier’s two lines share the same foundation: fashion based on T-shirts and baseball caps.

The bill of the Audigier cap will be 2 inches longer than the 5-inch bill of the average cap. The caps will also cost more. A typical Ed Hardy cap costs $55; price points for Audigier caps will be $125–$250. The Audigier T-shirts will share the same price range.

They’ll be emblazoned with a variety of tattoo art, including the Virgin of Guadalupe, tattoos worn by rappers such as The Game, the Christian Audigier logo and hot-rod art.

Audigier honed his graphics-heavy design skills at his old company, Von Dutch Originals. He left Von Dutch in August 2004 and is still embroiled in lawsuits with the company’s chief executive, Tonny Sorenson.

His ambitions for his luxury line won’t end at T-shirts. The Christian Audigier brand also will be made up of cargo pants, denim, leather pants, jackets and mini-skirts, all of which will bear the brand logo. He’ll also sell branded jewelry and luggage; luggage price points will be $500–$1,500.

He plans to roll out 10 more stores in the next five years. He is also banking on selling the line at finer specialty boutiques and better department stores.

Retailer Mary Helen Shashy hopes to sell Christian Audigier because Ed Hardy has doubled business at her Los Angeles–based ecommerce Web site, Hotter Than Hollywood.

“It used to be a line that only Los Angeles fashionistas and insiders knew about,” Shashy said. But “since last month, we’ve been selling it to people in Europe, Asia and the rest of America.”

Shashy also believes that consumers will pay the extra cash for the Audigier brand. “Luxury is where the market is going. People want to see the fun and originality of what he puts in Ed Hardy, and I think they’ll want to see it in luxury.”

Creating a brand with a higher price point is a good step, said brand consultant Rick Barrera, chief executive officer of San Diego, Calif.–based Barerra & Associates. “If you want to have a brand that has longevity, you must evolve with your customer base,” he said.