By now, we regard designer Christian Audigier
as bonafide member of The Book L.A. family. We were there
when Audigier turned the name of a relatively obscure auto artisan—Von
Dutch—into a wearable piece of American pop culture,
and again when he teamed up with legendary tattoo artist Don
Ed Hardy to launch another iconic line of clothing that caught
fire with celebrities and the public alike.
While Audigier has made it safe for people from all walks of life
to embrace car culture and get themselves a “cool tattoo”
without any pain, he’s not one to dwell on any one success
too long. Anxious to push himself and his reputation to the next
level, he is now launching a spanking new clothing line
with a luxury bent that still retains a bit of the street
cred that made him famous.
Audigier’s new eponymous line pays tribute to California culture
in a way that no brand has done previously, fusing distinctive elements
of hot rod, tattoo and Cholo iconography to aspects that reflect
his French heritage. As he explains it, the result is “Rock
and Roll with a soul,” and Audigier
hopes it will reflect California’s lifestyle anywhere the
wearer goes. Case in point: wearers includes Madonna,
Usher, Jamie Foxx, Natasha Henstridge,
Jessica Alba, Johnny Hallyday, Tony Scott, Rick Foxx, Sean Paul,
Paris Hilton, Shakira, John Legend,
Mickey Rourke, Busta Rhymes.
One of the trademarks for the new Christian Audigier line, fittingly
enough, is the re-thinking of the baseball hat with a signature
silhouette and logo. “The shirts portray
a regal, yet rebellious
look that will turn heads everywhere from Rodeo Drive to Rue du
Faubourg St. Honoré," says Audigier "The
designs have distinctive touches such as foil and flocking that
make each and every piece a true original.”
As with his other collections, Christian Audigier is a line that
celebrates living, being who and what you are without apology, but
on an even more luxurious scale. The collection is available at
the flagship store at 7819 Melrose as well as Lisa
Kline in Beverly Hills and Malibu, Lounge
in New York, Fred Segal in Hollywood and Santa
Monica, Lulu in Miami, and finer retailers throughout
North America, Europe and Asia.
