Paul Frank is renowned for their bright clothing and characters. Julius the monkey has grown to be the focal point of the brand leading them into the hearts of most of worldwide t-shirt fans. The brand began life when a youth full Paul Frank was an art student in California and begansewing wallets for his college buddies. The wallets featured the simple face of a grinning monkey known as Julius. These led to guitar straps and ruck sacks being customised by Paul Frank and it was the beginning of a global clothing brand. Soon he was producing wallets constantly and he was looking for a way to make it a job. After his friend Ryan tried to get him a position at Mossimo and failed, he turned to Paul and said “Why don’t you just do this yourself”. Paul was short on money so Ryan decided to get some money together and fund the clothing brand himself. They soon had a business license and they began building the brand.
With Mr Frank controlling the creative side the other side of the Paul Frank Industries team was headed up by Paul’s friend Ryan Heuser and John Oswold. Ryan had previously worked for clothing company Mossimo handling PR duties for the brand’s men’s division and John had earned a degree in San Diego and had two business ventures. After meeting Ryan in 1997, they became good friends as wll as business partners. The brand quickly became popular with many celebrities 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 grow faster with a broader range of Paul Frank characters, a larger clothing line andbespoke Paul Frank accessories for rock star fans. Paul Frank was here to stay.
Paul continued to make new designs himself while Ryan and John took care of the business side and for a time things were great. Paul was pleased to be allowed to let his creativity flow but the company had become big. Paul didn’t feel entirely comfortable. Paul was having to make more and more public appearances to promote the clothing company in magazines and on television as well as fashion events. Paul felt unhappy in the role and eventually things came to a head and the business started to clash with creativeness. This would eventually lead to a legal case and a win 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.
Now a days the business has grown to include Small Paul, a range of Paul Frank clothes and accessories for kids and a range of children’s furniture. Paul Frank, the artist, is no longer affiliated 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 ever popular.
