About Paul Frank clothing and accessories
Paul Frank is renowned for their bright clothing and friendly characters. Julius the monkey has become the face of the brand leading them straight to the hearts of most of global clothing fans. The brand was originally founded when a youth full Paul Frank was studying art in California and startedmaking wallets for his college buddies. The wallets featured the simple face of a smiling monkey called Julius. This soon led to guitar straps and school bags being customised by Paul Frank and it was the beginning of a global clothing brand. Soon he was sewing wallets constantly and he was searching for a way to turn it into a job. After his friend Ryan tried to get him a position at Mossimo and failed, he turned to Paul and suggested “Why don’t you just do this yourself”. Paul was short on money so Ryan decided to put some money together and fund the business himself. They soon had a business license and they started building the brand.
With Paul handling the creative side the rest of the Paul Frank Industries team was headed up by Paul’s buddy Ryan Heuser and John Oswold. Ryan had previously worked for clothing company Mossimo handling public relations for the label’s men’s division and John had earned a degree in San Diego and had a couple business ventures. After meeting Ryan in 1997, they became good friends as wll as business partners. The label quickly became a favourite with many stars becoming fans of the clothing and accessories. This raised the profile of Paul Frank the man as well as Paul Frank Industries. The company began to build quickly with a broader range of Paul Frank characters, a bigger clothing line andcustom Paul Frank accessories for celebrity fans. Paul Frank was here to stay.
Mr Frank continued to create new designs himself while Ryan and John took care of the business side and for a while times were good. Paul was content to be allowed to let his creativity flow but the brand had become big. Paul didn’t really feel very comfortable. Paul was having to make more and more public appearances to promote the brand in magazines and on television as well as fashion events. Paul felt unhappy in the role and soon things came to a head and the business started to clash with creativeness. This would eventually lead to a legal case and a victory for Paul Frank Industries who got a restraining order against the artist. This meant Paul was temporary not allowed to use the Paul Frank trademark.
In the meantime the business has grown to include Small Paul, a range of Paul Frank clothes and accessories for kids and a range of kid’s furniture. Paul Frank, the artist, is now no longer connected with Paul Frank Industries and he now has some design studios, Treestitch Design, Inc. and Park La Fun. Despite the dispute the label continues to be loved with Paul Frank accessories and clothing becoming increasingly popular.