What's in a name?

X-Artwear, but what’s in a name?

After more than five years, we’ve changed our business name from Paulsartworld.eu into X-Artwear.

We even created a new logo because, let’s be honest, the old “P.H.” logo just wasn’t cutting it with the new vibe! Men’s Artwear and P.H.? Nobody understands! So, we changged it.But why the change, and why now? Let’s rewind to the beginning… and trust me, it’s been a journey.

As a young boy,

Paul wasn’t a fan of his name. It was too common. There were Pauls everywhere! And “Harmsen” didn’t help much either. In Dutch, Harmsen means “son of Harm” (which dates back centuries), and “Harm” was one of those classic farmer names from the east of the Netherlands. There was even a song with the title  ” I am farmer Harms…” what was really a great  carnival-hit-song in the Netherlends. Not exactly thrilling for someone like Paul Harmsen, who wanted anything but ordinary. He often wished he’d been called something cooler, like “Yves st’ Laurant” or even “Jean-Paul Gaultier” would always be better then “Paul Harmsen”

Paulientje?

And he also got a nickname…what wasn’t much better than his real name.It didn’t help that Paul’s classmates could tell he was gay at a young age, even though he didn’t fully embrace it until he was 23. By primary school, his nickname became “Paulientje,” the diminutive and more feminine version of Paul. He didn’t get why they called him that, but hey, “Paul or Paulientje, same old pot of water!” The nickname vanished when he hit his teenage years, but the sting of having an “ordinary” name lingered.

So, what did he do about it? For starters, he stopped writing his full name. Already at a young age; “P.H.” was all anyone got from him.

When Paul came outof the closet (You know what we mean!) and started studying at the Gerrit Rietveld Art Academy, he began creating art, which, of course, needed signing. But here’s the thing—Paul’s handwriting was, let’s just say, a bit of a disaster. He grew up in the infamous 1960s/70s when schools ditched strict handwriting rules. Paul took full advantage, switching between writing styles daily—one day to the right, the next to the left. By the time he was done experimenting, his handwriting was unrecognizable… a full-blown mess. So, when the time came to sign his artwork, he went with the simple “P.H.”—better than random scribbles, right?

After graduating,

Paul worked as a designer and stylist forTV and Theater.at Joop van den Ende  now Endemol. When he started his own Costume and styling business, the name dilemma returned. Despite all his creative talent, he was stuck once again with “P.H.” for his business names—P.H. Costumes, P.H. Styling, and even P.H. Holding when things took off. Within ten years, Paul had multiple successful businesses, three cars, a million gulden, at that time, turnover, and a massive house with a studio. But amidst all that success, something was missing. The artist in him felt like it was fading away.

We go!

It took him two years of missery, what beautiful artworks yielded,like “I’ll never lose faith in me” before Paul and his partner John decided to leave it all behind,

moving to France to start a new life with their business “Jeviemavie,” which loosely translates to “I live my life.” Yet, the artist side of things remained; P.H.—P.H. Gallery, P.H. Menswear, and so on.

After 17 years

of running galleries and working in tourism with John, they decided it was time for a new adventure. Paul had an idea: a YouTube channel. But guess what the logo was? Yep, P.H. again. The channel was called “Paulsartworld” (for lack of a better name), but after a year and a half, YouTube shut it down for “sexual harassment” violations (we’ll talk about that another time). So, it became “Paulsnewartworld.” Through this adventure, Paul was inspired to design clothes featuring prints of his Artwork and sell them online, starting with Etsy.

Oh, not again!

Soon, the need for a proper website arose, and—surprise, surprise—it was named Paulsartworld.eu (because the domain “Paulsartworld” was already taken). As the Artwear business grew more serious, Paul dove into marketing. How do you rank on Google? Where should you advertise? What’s the best way to reach a Gay audience? After watching countless tutorials and trying various strategies, Paul learned one thing: the first and most important thing for a clothing brand is a catchy, clear name that reflects what you’re selling.

It took weeks of brainstorming, but after sifting through options like Xart, Wearart, and Mensart, they landed on “X-Artwear.” Naturally, the domain name was taken, so after some research, Paulsartworld.eu officially became X-Artwear, and the new site is X-Artwear.com. was born!

We won’t bore

you with the endless paperwork involved in changing a business name across Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms—or how many times we had to update “Paulsartworld” on our own website. If you spot any remnants of the old name, please bear with us as we work to update everything!

So, that’s the story behind our new name, X-Artwear. Let us know what you think in the comments here or on social media like our pages on  Facebook and Instagram.

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See you soon

X-Artwear.