Don Ed Hardy is an American tattoo artist born in Iowa in 1945, and raised in Southern California. A pupil of Sailor Jerry, Hardy is recognized for incorporating Japanese tattoo aesthetic and technique into his work.
From streets to slope, Ed Hardy covered a lot of terrain at its fall 2009 runway at Toronto fashion week last night. The edgy line — designed by Christian Audigier and loved by celebrities from Paris Hilton to David Beckham — featured outfits for two opposing seasons, from European-styled glam monokinis, string bikinis and board shorts to quilted, fitted ski jackets and rolled up snow pants.
Don Ed Hardy is known as "the godfather of modern tattoo", for his sophistication, depth and sense of experimentation. California native Don Ed Hardy is recognized around the world for his technical brilliance and mesmerizing imagery. Don Ed Hardy pulls from life experience to meld American, Japanese, Cholo, tattoo, surf and hotrod iconography. This broad spectrum of taste and experience, coupled with an ongoing investigation of various art histories and a mastery of technique, give his work a unique range and depth. Don Ed Hardy is a painter, printmaker and tattoo artist. Fascinated by tattoos since childhood, Hardy has become a master of his craft while continuing his work in the more traditional mediums of painting and drawing. In 2000, he completed a 500 foot long scroll painting of 2000 dragons in honor of the turn of the millennium and the Dragon year. The scroll has been exhibited at Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, the Cuenca Bienal in Ecuador and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. Don Ed Hardy curated the exhibition, "Pierced Hearts and True Love", which was shown at The Drawing Center in New York in September 1995 and traveled to several other museums. His work is represented in the collections of The Honolulu Academy of Art, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, The San Francisco Fine Arts Museum Achenbach Collection, and the University of Colorado Fine Art Galleries.
In 2002 Hardy was approached by Ku USA, Inc. to produce a line of clothing based on Hardy's art and a licence agreement was signed. Within two years, the collection had drawn the interest of Saks companies. Hardy and Ku USA formed Hardy Life LLC, which holds the trademark ownership as well as the copyrights to all his images.

In 2004, Christian Audigier licensed the rights to produce the high-end Ed Hardy clothing line, which is based on Hardy's imagery. Prior to the Ed Hardy clothing line, Audigier was the Head Designer at Von Dutch Originals, which marketed the imagery of Kenny Howard. Audigier has attempted to replicate the marketing techniques employed by Von Dutch Originals, by marketing directly to celebrity clients and by opening stores in high profile fashion districts. There are currently at least fourteen Ed Hardy stores, located in Waikiki, Dubai, Kuwait, Tel Aviv, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Tucson, Houston, Montreal, New York, Boston, Atlanta, Tokyo, Singapore, Berlin, Riga, three in Australia and two stores have recently been opened in India, one in New Delhi and the other in Mumbai. Ed Hardy will soon be opening in Bahrain.