Why was Ed hardy and Tapeout shirts and fashion so popular in the late 2000s into the beginning of the 2010s?

There's a bit of a difference between Ed Hardy/Christian Audigier and TapOut/Affliction, although it can be a bit hard to miss at times. Ed Hardy/Christian Audigier was based on Ed Hardy's tattoo work. It was basically a tattoo you could take off. They were pretty popular with skateboarders and the like early on, but later it became more trendy in general and they abandoned it shortly afterwards, after which the trend died down (since the whole point was to look like an edgy teen, and edgy teens stopped wearing it). TapOut/Affliction were clothing brands tightly affiliated with MMA, and most specifically the UFC prior to their clothing sponsorship deals. They were designed more around the 'tribal' tattoo design, so were a bit similar, but they were almost exclusively worn by UFC fanboys, so were a much greater red flag. So, early Ed Hardy = edgy teen skater boi, late Ed Hardy = wannabe clout chaser, TapOut/Affliction = UFC/MMA fanboy/chud/probably beats his gf.