The Who, the When, the Wear

The immovable Kenneth Howard was born in 1929, the same year America would see the worst economic productivity via the crash of the stock market, coined “The Great Depression”. The son a sign painter famous for creating the Western Exterminator logo that shows a man, finger wagging to a rat at his feet. Behind his back a mallet. Howard would follow suit painting and lettering professionally by age 10, later he would attend Compton High School, where he began pin striping, first motorcycles and then anything with wheels, Von Dutch was satisfying, in himself the trend in American culture, a desire for freedom, liberation, and most importantly, simply to express himself. From there Von Dutch’s creativity and do what I want ‘tude, which earned him his famous nickname for being “stubborn as a Dutchman”, took off, 0 – 60 faster than the consumption of an extra large pepperoni at a weight watchers convention. In the 50s, Von Dutch reinvented pinstriping, each paint job transformed into a painting, a mural of sorts and automobiles and the world became his canvas. He was a craftsman ahead of his time, shifting any vehicle into an awe inspiring metallic masterpiece.

He was an artist that gave birth to this eccentric form of decorating machinery. He’s most famous for two images. One is the stylized version of the nickname he adopted for himself, Von Dutch which you find on apparel and across the backsides of celebrities, ultra cool teens, twenty something, and trendsetter's alike. The other is the flying eyeball, Von Dutch once said originated in the Macedonian and Egyptian cultures some 5,000 years ago, in the time of the pharaohs and hieroglyphics. Von Dutch, though he didn't’t create this symbol, certainly personified, popularized, and held them true emblems of the underground. He’s remembered today for that body of work, but also for the larger-than-life persona he fashioned—the charismatic, carousing pinstripe who did as he pleased.

Dutch died at age 63 in 1992, leaving the brand to his heirs, but his legacy lives on in the hearts, minds, and moreover on the clothing which cloaks the bodies of so many. Celebes male and female don his name, from Fox 11’s Jillian Barberie, to Limp bizkit’s Fred Durst, Pretty Boy Ashton Kutcher, Gwen Stefani of no doubt, and the Dutchess Brittney Spears, which in fact, traded in her veil for a Von Dutch trucker hat for her all important wedding day. Von Dutch was something similar to an honorary guest at the wedding.

Within the next year, the company plans to dive into eyewear and watches, aimed at the celebrity clientele. Speaking of which, the newest addition to the Von Family is the insatiable Anna Nicole Smith. You can expect to see Anna helping the expansion of upcoming Von products including cosmetics and eyewear. The company opened the first of their retail store on Melrose Avenue in 2000, and now a franchise in Beverly Hills.

Caroline Rothwell, Vice President of Marketing, remarks "Von Dutch, the brand, is very organic, in that it actually comes from a true, untouched history". Christian Audigier, former designer and mastermind behind the line, when asked “How do you keep up with today’s trends?” states with confidence and a boisterous disposition just as Kenneth Howard would’ve, “We MAKE the trends”. Having said that Von Dutch is like unwelcome houseguest's, they’re here and don’t intend to leave until they feel it’s time – how dutch is that? Remember Kenneth Howard. The … “Von Dutch”.

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