Ed Hardy T-shirt

In 2002 Hardy was approached by Ku USA, Inc. to produce a line of clothing based on Hardy's art. Hardy appreciated the Asian sensibilities of the Ku collection and a license agreement was signed. Within two years, the collection had drawn the interest of large clothing companies. A decision was made by Hardy and Ku USA to form 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 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 legendary Kustom Kulture artist Von Dutch. 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 twelve Ed Hardy stores, located in Toronto, Waikiki, Dubai, Miami, Los Angeles, Tucson, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Noosa on The Sunshine Coast, Melbourne, Sydney, Riga and Gold Coast which opened slightly earlier than expected in late 2007. Stores were opened in Johannesburg, South Africa in early 2007 and Cape Town, South Africa in late 2007. In late 2007, stores were opened in New Delhi & Mumbai. He opened another store in San Francisco in March of 2008 just blocks from Union Square in the city's famous Market Street shopping district.