Editing Von Dutch

{{Short description|American fashion brand}}
{{about|the company|the artist the company is named after|Kenny Howard|the Charli XCX song|Von Dutch (song)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Von Dutch, WSG VD
| logo = Von Dutchlogo.png
| caption = 
| type = 
| genre = 
| fate = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| foundation = {{start date and age|1999}}
| founder = 
| defunct = 
| location_city = [[New Jersey]]
| location_country = United States
| location = 
| locations = 
| area_served = USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Europe, HK, Malaysia, Singapore, China
| key_people = 
| industry = Men’s and women’s apparel and accessories
| products = Shirts, jackets, shoes, hats, jeans, bags, eyewear, watches, and belts/buckles
| services = 
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| aum = 
| assets = 
| equity = 
| owner = WSG (White Space Group)
| num_employees = 
| parent = WSG
| divisions = 
| subsid = 
| homepage = [http://www.vondutch.com/ www.vondutch.com]
| footnotes = 
| intl = 
}}

'''Von Dutch''' is an American multinational [[fashion]] brand posthumously named after [[Kenny Howard]], a.k.a. "Von Dutch", an American artist and [[pinstriping|pinstriper]] of the [[Kustom Kulture]] movement.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-08-25-von-dutch_x.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040730192914/http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-08-25-von-dutch_x.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 July 2004|title=Stars get revved up over Von Dutch|work=[[USA Today]]|access-date=13 January 2011|first1=Karen|last1=Thomas|date=26 August 2003}}</ref> After Howard's death in 1992, his daughters allowed Ed Boswell to produce items using the Von Dutch trademark logo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://neuronsyndicate.com/portfolio/von-dutch/ |title=Von Dutch homepage |publisher=Neuronsyndicate.com |access-date=2015-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212002257/http://neuronsyndicate.com/portfolio/von-dutch/ |archive-date=12 February 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The trademark rights were sold in 1996 to Mike Cassell who, with Robert Vaughn, used the logo for an apparel line named Von Dutch Originals.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kaplan |first1=Ilana |title=The Untold Story of Von Dutch |work=The New York Times |date=17 November 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/style/von-dutch-hulu-documentary.html |access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref> French designer [[Christian Audigier]] helped popularize the brand in the early 2000s. Von Dutch was repurchased in 2009 by Groupe Royer S.A., through its Luxembourg subsidiary Royer brands International S.a.r.l. In 2024, WSG (White Space Group) purchased the global rights from Groupe Royer S.A.

The clothing brand gained popularity in the US and attracted the attention of celebrities such as [[Paris Hilton]], [[Whitney Houston]], [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]], [[Britney Spears]], [[Justin Timberlake]], [[Jay-Z]], [[Ashton Kutcher]] and [[Eric Church]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://classicwhitney.yuku.com/topic/1596/Being-Bobby-Brown-Episode-7|title=Being Bobby Brown Episode 7|date=4 August 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2008/08/brand-strategy.html |title=Brand Strategy: Build an Icon, Not a Fad |website=Brandingstrategyinsider.com |access-date=April 6, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Patricia Ward|last=Biederman|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-02-me-dutch2-story.html |title=Car Painter Earned His Stripes|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=September 2, 2002 |access-date=April 6, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=David |first=Mark |url=https://variety.com/2011/dirt/real-estalker/von-dutch-tycoon-tonny-sorensen-lists-l-a-crib-1201232688/ |title=Von Dutch Tycoon Tonny Sorensen Lists L.A. Crib |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=December 17, 2011|access-date=April 6, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-02-et-moore2-story.html |title=Going Von Dutch|newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 2, 2004 |access-date=April 6, 2015 |first=Booth |last=Moore}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/nyregion/06surf.html?em|title=Transplanting the Legend of the Santa Cruz Surf|first1=Corey|last1=Kilgannon|first2=Ben|last2=Chapman|date=April 6, 2009|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=21|access-date=January 14, 2011}}</ref>

== History ==
===Kenny Howard===
[[Kenny Howard|Kenneth Robert Howard]] was an American motorcycle mechanic, artist, pin striper, metal fabricator, knifemaker and gunsmith. The inspiration to create the clothing line started with Howard's daughters Lisa and Lorna after his death. They decided to use his artistic name Von Dutch; "Dutch" was a family nickname for Howard because he was considered to be "as stubborn as a Dutchman". 

Howard had passion for cars and motorcycles. He also created special effects for Hollywood films, and served as a consultant for several period films. His most recognizable work was in 1955 at the 1955 Motorama; he was able to stripe a 1927 [[Studebaker]] for 10 days. Today, Howard is known as the father of modern pin-striping.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Von Dutch Story - Kustomrama|url=https://kustomrama.com/wiki/Von_Dutch|access-date=November 21, 2021|website=kustomrama.com}}</ref>

He was famously indifferent about the rights to his work, dismissing copyrights and patents as an "ego trip".<ref>{{cite web|magazine=Graffiti Magazine|url=http://www.graffiti-magazine.net/?p=9125|title=Nothing is original|date=17 March 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713184240/http://www.graffiti-magazine.net/?p=9125|archive-date=2015-07-13}}</ref> He sold the Von Dutch name to fellow pinstriper Steve Kafka for $5,000.

Howard was a virulent racist and admirer of Hitler's Third Reich.  “A letter he wrote about abandoning harsh medical treatment for a fatal illness is blunt: ‘I am not willing to go through it anymore only to emerge in a place full of Africans, Mexicans and Jews. … I have always been a Nazi and still believe it was the last time the world had a chance of being operated with logic. What a shame so many Americans died and suffered to make the rich richer and save England & France again, or was that still. I hope you lying wimps get swallowed up with your stupidity,’” he wrote.  <ref>{{cite web | url=https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/von-dutch-trucker-hat-racist-origins | title=The Astonishingly Racist Origins of the 'Von Dutch' Trucker Hat | date=July 2020 }}</ref>

Howard died in 1992 of [[liver failure]], resulting from [[alcoholism]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=RJ|title=Triumph of the Wheels|issue=5|date=May 2004|volume=74|publisher=Emmis Communications|location=Los Angeles, California|pages=90–97, 180–187|journal=[[Los Angeles Magazine]]|issn=1522-9149}}</ref>

===Beginning of the company===
In the 1990s, art collector Ed Boswell began selling Von Dutch patches at Los Angeles art shows, having procured the rights to the Von Dutch name from Howard's daughters. He met former drug dealer Michael Cassel and competitive surfer [[Bobby Vaughn]] at a trade show, and they decided to go into business together, initially deciding to create an apparel line of garage-themed jeans and workwear. Cassel and Vaughn eventually bought Boswell out of the company, and brought in entrepreneur [[Tonny Sørensen]] as CEO and investor.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Brooke|last=Marine|date=November 19, 2021|title=Who Knew There Was So Much Chaos Surrounding Von Dutch?|url=https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/curse-of-von-dutch-hulu-docuseries-review|access-date=November 21, 2021|magazine=[[W (magazine)|W]]}}</ref> Sørensen hired [[Christian Audigier]] in 2002 to design for the brand. Audigier came up with the trucker hat, inspired by classic [[Americana (culture)|Americana]] such as [[Marlon Brando]]'s motorcycle cap in ''[[The Wild One]]''.<ref>{{cite news|first=David|last=Colker|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-christian-audigier-20150711-story.html|title=Christian Audigier dies at 57; fashion marketer popularized Ed Hardy, Von Dutch|newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=July 10, 2015|accessdate=November 26, 2021}}</ref>

===Success===
[[File:Von Dutch Cap.JPG|thumb|[[Baseball cap]] by the brand]]
The [[2000s fashion|early 2000s]] were the prime years for the company. Celebrities were spotted wearing a variety of Von Dutch apparel such as jackets, t-shirts, and, most notably, [[trucker hat]]s. [[Britney Spears]] and [[Justin Timberlake]] played a vital role in the rise of Von Dutch. Audigier met with Spears in Los Angeles in 2002 and convinced her to wear the brand. Soon afterward, Spears and Timberlake made national news with their breakup, and happened to be wearing Von Dutch trucker hats on the cover of ''[[People (magazine)|People]]''. The exposure helped grow the brand, and it began selling.<ref name="Ranker.com">{{Cite web|first=Matt|last=Manser|title=What Happened To Trucker-Chic Clothing Company Von Dutch?|url=https://www.ranker.com/list/what-happened-to-von-dutch/matt-manser|date=September 23, 2021|access-date=November 21, 2021|website=[[Ranker]]}}</ref>

Other celebrities such as [[Paris Hilton]], [[Lindsay Lohan]], [[Ashton Kutcher]], and [[Beyoncé]] were seen wearing the $100 trucker hat. Kutcher was constantly seen wearing Von Dutch in the early 2000s, especially on episodes of ''[[Punk'd]]''. Von Dutch's popularity peaked in 2003, with sales of over $33 million.<ref name="Ranker.com"/>

===Behind-the scenes tumult===
Sørensen fired Vaughn and became sole owner in 2002. He also began sidelining Cassel as a designer in favor of Audigier. Vaughn and Cassel became openly hostile to Sørensen; at one point, Cassel hired drug lord [[Pablo Escobar]]'s grandson to intimidate him into selling his stake in the company for $500,000, a proposal that Sørensen refused.<ref name="Vogue"/> Vaughn, meanwhile, tried to intimidate Cassel into selling his shares of the company, and accused him of calling the police when he refused.

In February 2005, Vaughn was arrested on charges of [[first degree murder]] after he shot and killed childhood friend Mark Rivas, who he claimed attacked him with a broken bottle. He was acquitted in 2006.

===Decline===
By the late 2000s, Von Dutch began to experience a rapid decline due to issues such as brand saturation and counterfeiting. In May 2004, Boswell, who resented Cassel and Vaughn for buying him out of the company just before it became successful, leaked to the press a letter written by Howard in 1992, in which the late artist made several racist and antisemitic remarks and professed admiration for [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name="Mel Magazine">{{cite web|first=Andrew|last=Fiouzi|url=https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/von-dutch-trucker-hat-racist-origins|title=The Nazi-Sympathizing Pinstriper Who Inspired the Von Dutch Trucker Hat|magazine=[[Mel Magazine]]|date=July 1, 2020|accessdate=November 26, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2018-10-10|title=Critic's Notebook: Why is the Petersen Museum ignoring Von Dutch's racist past?|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-von-dutch-neo-nazi-20181010-story.html|access-date=2021-12-29|work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Despite Howard having nothing to do with the clothing line, this letter destroyed what little popularity the company had left; by 2004, the fashion press had derisively nicknamed the brand "Von Douche".<ref name="Vogue">{{Cite web|first=Christian|last=Allaire|date=November 18, 2021|title=A New Docuseries Explores the Rise and Fall of Von Dutch|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/von-dutch-new-hulu-docuseries|access-date=November 22, 2021|website=[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]}}</ref> Audigier left the company in 2007. In 2009, Sorenson sold the brand to French footwear company Groupe Royer.<ref name="Bustle.com">{{cite web|first=Justice|last=Namaste|url=https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/what-happened-to-von-dutch-founder-owner-controversy|title=Inside The Messy, Chaotic Downfall Of Von Dutch|website=[[Bustle (website)|Bustle]]|date=November 18, 2021|accessdate=November 26, 2021}}</ref>

===Resurgence===
In 2016 Von Dutch started to make a comeback when [[Kylie Jenner]] was seen wearing the famous trucker hat, jackets and two-piece sets.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Peyser|first=Eve|title=Kylie Jenner Is Trying Really Hard to Bring Von Dutch Back|url=https://www.thecut.com/2016/04/kylie-tries-to-make-von-dutch-happen.html|date=April 14, 2016|access-date=November 22, 2021|website=[[The Cut (website)|The Cut]]}}</ref> In 2019 Von Dutch hired Ed Goldman as its general manager, and he started to create connections with Los Angeles' hip-hop community; rappers such as [[Travis Scott]], [[Saweetie]], and [[Megan Thee Stallion]] were soon seen wearing the brand on [[Instagram]], and the company partnered with [[Young Thug]] in 2021 to create a line of streetwear.<ref>{{cite news|first=Ilana|last=Kaplan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/style/von-dutch-hulu-documentary.html|title=The Untold Story of Von Dutch|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 17, 2021|accessdate=November 26, 2021}}</ref> Von Dutch also became popular with [[Internet celebrities]] such as [[Emma Chamberlain]] and [[Addison Rae]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Slater|first=Bailey|date=September 10, 2021|title=How Von Dutch rose from the ashes|url=https://i-d.co/article/von-dutch-y2k-fashion-revival/|access-date=November 22, 2021|website=i-d.vice.com}}</ref>

As of 2021, Earl Pickens is the [[executive director]] of design.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dutch|first=Von|title=History|url=https://vondutch.com/pages/history|access-date=2021-11-20|website=vondutch.com}}</ref> In 2024 [[Charli XCX]] released a song named "[[Von Dutch (song)|Von Dutch]]" as the lead single from her sixth studio album, ''[[Brat (Charli XCX album)|Brat]]''.

==References==
<references />

== External links ==
* {{official website|http://www.vondutch.com}}
{{energy drinks}}
[[Category:American brands]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1999]]
[[Category:Clothing brands of the United States]]
[[Category:Clothing companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies based in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Clothing companies established in 1999]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 1999]]
[[Category:American subsidiaries of foreign companies]]
[[Category:2000s fashion]]
[[Category:2010s fashion]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in California]]
[[Category:2008 mergers and acquisitions]]