Can Von Dutch Clothes Become Relevant Again?

The gurus who run WSG Brands, the company that markets Vintage Havana and Surf Gypsy, are hoping to change the fortunes of Von Dutch, once the trendiest fashion label in the world, with a loyal following of Hollywood glitterati — but now a troubled traveler with lots of unwanted baggage.

In July, Jack Cheika and Marc Benitez announced their acquisition of the fashion brand with an eye to “reigniting the flames of Von Dutch’s rebellious spirit,” along with a push toward enticing international influencers in overseas markets.

Indeed, celebrities have always been the best cosplayers, and throwing on a Von Dutch trucker hat in the aughts seemed to provide instant cool cred for stars like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, who made it part of their uniforms alongside Ed Hardy tees and Juicy tracksuits.

Despite the overexposure of the Venice Beach-born clothing line featuring the “Kustom Kulture” artwork of Kenny “Von Dutch” Howard, a screwball motorcycle mechanic who spent much of his 63-years on earth in a boozy fog, there was always something sexy about it. Back then, and still today, Venice Beach repped what’s left of American lawlessness, home to the original skateboarding bad boys of Dogtown and a kaleidoscopic array of neon-adorned revelers, roller skaters, street artists and buskers.

Von Dutch made its fans feel like they were living on the edge in a shitbox studio apartment in the hardscrabble 90291, rather than under the protection of a Beverly Hills mansion in the 90210, and it became a fashion movement thanks to Christian Audigier (also behind the Ed Hardy craze) and under the stewardship of a former drug dealer named Michael Cassel and his partner, surfer-model Bobby Vaughn, when the pair acquired the rights to Howard’s work from his daughters in 1996.

The company’s free fall from Von Dutch to “Von Douche” over just a few years in the early 2000s saw its iconic tank tops and trucker caps end up in donation bins in a fast and furious flash. There was the whole murder thing in 2005, when Vaughn, who had already been pushed out of the company, confessed to shooting his bestie and roommate, a killing for which he was later acquitted. And in 2009, allegations surfaced that Howard was a racist and a neo-Nazi, followed by rumblings that the entire operation was a labyrinthine money-laundering op, later alluded to in the 2021 three-part Hulu documentary The Curse of Von Dutch: A Brand to Die For.

The company was sold to Royer International, a workboot manufacturer in 2009, yet it’s never really taken off again, even after Kylie Jenner tried to revitalize the brand by donning a bedazzled V.D. trucker hat in 2016. That epic fail even led to a public rebuke by a fashion columnist for Bazaar .

But Cheika and Benitez might be onto something. While the Von Dutch Melrose store has long been shuttered, vintage pieces have been tilting toward a comeback since supermodel Alton Mason was spotted in the brand’s old school flare jeans during Milan Fashion Week in 2018. Original trucker hats are being snatched up from the RealReal and eBay, some at hundreds of dollars — which is exactly what the company’s new owners hope will “elevate Von Dutch to new heights” while “honoring its seminal history.” Even if that past is a troubled one.