We've had a few daily deals here on BuyersHQ.com featuring Ed Hardy designs by Christian Audigier now, and it got me wondering... Who the hell is Ed Hardy, and why do so many remote control toys come with Ed Hardy decals?  Does Ed Hardy even drive a Lamborgini Murcielago, and if he does drive one, is it covered in decals of snakes and stuff?

Well, I did a little Googling, and here's what I found.  Ed Hardy is a tattoo artist based out of Laguna Beach, Calif.  (Yes, THAT Laguna Beach.)  Turns out he was a pupil of another famous tattoo artist back in the day, Sailor Jerry Collins.  Thanks to his association with Sailor Jerry, Ed was invited to Japan to study that country's style of tattooing under a man named Horihide, who I assume is famous in his own right over there.  In any case, Ed came back to the States and started to incorporate some of the Japanese aesthetic into his tattoo designs, and fans of tattooing were pretty impressed.

Good as old Ed was, though, he didn't really make a dent in the popular consciousness until his tattoo designs were optioned by clothing designer Christian Audigier.  Seems ol' Christian had enjoyed some success designing and marketing the Von Dutch line of apparel, and I guess he saw some appeal in Ed Hardy's work, because he started marketing the Ed Hardy line to celebrities and opeing up shops in trendy shopping districts.  Pretty soon, every trend-jocking musclehead in your hometown was rocking t-shirts with loud Ed Hardy prints of tigers, snakes, skulls, and other designs in your favorite bars.  Eventually, the line got so popular that they started making radio-controlled Lamborghinis that came with Ed Hardy decals.  That, my friends, is saturation!

Sadly, I couldn't find any info on what kind of car Ed himself drives around, but I'm pretty sure Mr. Audigier drives around an armored car to carry the huge bags of money he's made off of freaking t-shirts.  God bless the American dream!