R.i.p. Ken Howard

rip ken howard aka "von dutch" sept 19 1992.

 

I wonder, if he was alive today, what he would think of his name on shiek/fashion clothes?

 

A little tribute I did on my suburban that I tow with, Chipped the front fender and painted this on it.
FRITZ

 

I have a great interview done with him in a 70's Hot Rod magazine. It also has a bunch of how-to pinstriping tips from him. It was apparently from a time when he was living in his bus/machine shop.

 

I wonder if ANY of the kids that wear the $60 T shirts have any idea who he was?

 

I have a 21 year old daughter who didn't have a clue. I filled her in. She thought he was a clothing designer. .

 

Funny how some things are in style JUST because they are expensive...New Hummers(not military), for example.

 

I had an older lady ask me about my "Kenneth Howard Hates You" sticker and I explained to her who he was, she was really nice.

Has anyone seen that ridiculous watch that VDO's hawking in Lowrider magazine with Dennis Rodman as spokesperson? It's THE most blingeriffic thing I've ever seen, it's utterly beyond description.

 

The gauge poeple?

 

I make a point of asking every person I see with a Von Dutch hat or shirt if they know who he was. 0% so far. I do educate the ones who seem to care.

 

You mean Von Dutch didn't design fleece hoodies for little dogs?

I don't believe you.

http://www.vondutch.com/Pets_Von_Dutch_Original_Hoody/pd/np/350/p/11020.html

 

Shame. Was he alive when this started? Who's gettin' rich off it, did he have kids?

 

He died? Man, I love his trucker caps and jeans. The fashion world will miss him.

 

VDO, Von Dutch Originals.

 

When I see people with the stuff I tell them 'You say it Van Dooch' and they beleive me. HAHAHAHA

 

Von Dutch's children (who he pretty much abandoned with their mother and never really provided any support to) started the clothing line years after his death and sold it out to someone else for big bucks.

I can't say I blame them.

 

I was in the Drug store the other day and a lady had a Von Dutch hat on. Asked her if she was into cars???????? That Look...duh....Cars???? I said the hat. She says it's a famous clothes designer.......just walked away...

 

Er, Mike, it wasn't big bucks, it was an absolute pittance, but I don't blame the kids at all, desperation makes people do unwise things.

VDO had good intentions at the start, somewhere along the line something happened, more than likely it IS that Von Dutch signature's design that is so unique that it has such appeal. Maybe Von Dutch was a designer after all.

 

It was not started by his kids. A douchebag (yes I can say that because I had business dealings with him) bought the rights from the family and started the line. That ****er sold part of it to Brittany Spears and I think later sold the rest. They courted me for Art Director in the beginning.

 

It will remain 0% too, anyone who knows who he was, would never wear that ****. The interesting thing is though, that damned near everyone knows his name now, but before he died I'll bet that even most car guys (outside of the hot rod and kustom guys) never heard of him. And I don't think I could think of a WORSE person to be wearing his name than Dennis Rodman! What a shame, that more people will connect his name with this ****, than with the work he did, and they probably wouldn't get it even if you did show them.
On a funny side note though, last week my friend was sitting at a local cruise and he was wearing a t-shirt with pinstriping on it and a guy walked up and asked "Hey, are you Dutch?" He didn't know what the guy meant, since he forgot he was wearing pinstripes so he answered "Ah, no, I'm German". I guess you had to be there.

 

Dutch had kids????, I think it was his Mother and sister that sold the name for next to nothing. (but I guess I could be wrong.)

 

The funny part of the whole thing is that while he is respected, and rightfully so, for his contributions to the hot rod world, by almost all accounts the guy was a loner, and basically an ***hole.

If he were alive he would not give a **** about not only the clothing thing but pretty much anything else including the car scene of today, in my opinion.

 

Is it wrong for me to wish for a piano to fall on that guys head?

 

You are right.

 

from what I recall he left very little in his estate for his kids...
As far as the shirts go, the logo was bought/given/loaned or what ever to a guy who wanted to do some shirts, I have an idea he was a surfer or sumat and had good, credable ideas for Von Dutch stuff....Unfortunatley the company he got involved with (big company) took the logo, cut him out of the deal and the name became Von Dutch Orighinals and now we have Von Dutch hoodies for ****ing dogs!!
PS the Von Dutch energy drink is on it's way..really

Just as a thought..
as most of the people who buy this **** haven't got a clue who Von Dutch was (I say most as "she who must be obeyed" did buy some Von Dutch ******* in a moment of stupidity!!) I would think Kenneth Howard would have found the whole thing really funny (as long as he was getting his cut!) A bunch of stupid ***holes buying over priced, bad quality tat just because it has his name on it...

 

Man, I feel sick to my stomach. A new low, I would wish this was just a bad dream. Was his signature name font not copied from a motorcycle company, Norton??

Ken

 

RIP, I'm going to wear this one today.

 

My info comes from afew places that I've read, but I must consider info from someone with first hand knowledge (you Kirk) to be more reliable.

 

When I read about him in 92/93. That was the one thing about him, genuine, his way or get lost lost. It seemed from ealier articles that he was always like this from the begining to the end. Today, everything has to be PC.

Ken