The Ed Hardy's fashion craze

In the picture above (right), the famous Ed Hardy is posing next to his most famous works. To the left is Hardy's famous artwork that we now find everywhere; starting from the shoes, to your pens and shirts. Ed Hardey’s art has become popular throughout the world. People of all ages, from young children to adults, wear his art, but many don’t know exactly who this popular artist is or where his art is influenced from. Through browsing on the internet, I came across the website
www.donedhardyarchive.com/about.html, where I found out that Ed Hardy is a Californian tattoo artist who spent some years of intense studying in Japan, and according to this website, he became "the first non-Asian to gain access to that world." I find his work very interesting; it catches my attention, but I've never bought any merchandise by him, such as a shirt or a hat with his art work. His work is obviously inspired by Japanese art, which has become famous everywhere. For many people, his work represents freedom, rebellion or rock and roll. He has made some serious money out of it!