A Strange Case of Chrome Hearts

I caught a strange case of the Chrome Hearts itch a little over two years ago. At that time I had thought it was just another fashion company producing some really cool jewelry, but little did I know how wrong I was. I was too naive then…

Chrome Hearts was officially founded in 1988 and is still run by the main founder Richard Stark and his family. Mr. Stark, no relation to the guy in the metal suit, is the life force and visionary behind Chrome Hearts, and if he wasn’t unapologetically following his vision CH would have never achieved such a high pedigree of success, only recently being acquired by the corporate conglomerate LVMH on April 1, 2024.  The details of the acquisition remain unclear, but the Stark family maintained private ownership of the company till recently¹ . Stark’s grit and faith in his plans for CH is best shown in an interview with HypeBeast, with Stark stating, “I’m not in the fashion business. I’m related to it, but I don’t do what they want me to do, and they don’t have to do what I’m doing either. Back then, they just thought I was nuts”.

So what’s Chrome Hearts? A fashion brand? Jewelry company? Well yes and no…Chrome Hearts is just Chrome Hearts. All will be revealed as we dive into the mysterious, biker-grunge-coded universe decked out in chrome and leather.

The Call of Chrome

It feels like fashion week is always around the corner. The fashion industry is stuck in a race to unveil a new collection every season, with established streetwear brands following suit or hosting their own weekly or monthly release schedules. There’s a true maze of clothes out there coming out every couple of months, all available for immediate purchase online or at your closest stockist. Oh, you can’t afford the new Rick Owens denim that costs two weeks’ worth of wages? No problem! Just put it on Klarna or Affirm or any one of those really amazing credit providers…

Fashion’s overarching trend cycles are mostly set by these heritage clothing behemoths, so naturally, their newest pieces will be the most desirable and trend-setting. In 2024, luxury clothing is at an all-time high in price and desirability, with the only real barrier to entry for most consumers being the cost, and even that is negated by the rampant and irresponsible use of credit. Ultimately, luxury/designer clothing is more “accessible” and popular than ever, showing that clothing is feeding consumer gratification unlike ever before. This gratification can be as endless and instant as any other form of consumer opium, leaving the market to be dominated by the trendsetters and/or the people with the most ad spend.

But Stark really doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about trends, metrics, marketing, or money. What he does value above all else is his and his family’s artistic integrity and freedom to create through CH.

Sounds out there right? A hyper-successful and growing company that pays almost no attention to marketing or much of anything else for that matter. Quite the outlier to put it lightly. In the supply-diluted clothing market, Chrome Hearts feels like a paradigm in today’s luxury consumer market. An alternate universe beckoning you to explore. Stark started and continues the brand the exact way he wants it. Aiming to build the company into a self-sustained unit for leather and silver work, he doesn’t follow any trends, adheres to a release schedule, and does very little in the name of marketing. Quite the antithesis of the contemporary fashion industry.

Cult of Chrome

Chrome Hearts truly hasn’t changed much from its inception - if anything it’s more available than ever. CH has meticulously expanded to over 30 locations worldwide and grown its LA factory to take up 3 whole blocks in Hollywood. Absolutely adorned by stars and designers alike, outstanding CH lovers include the likes of Cher, Kim Kardashian, Bella Hadid, Jay-Z, Karl Lagerfeld, and Virgil Abloh, a handful of influential people who echo the call of Chrome. Lagerfeld and Abloh are objectively the most influential and iconic designers we’ve seen in our times so their word means a lot. Both designers individually formed relationships with the Starks that later opened the door for limited collaborations, and a CH collab isn’t just some deal struck between higher-ups. CH collaborations are only born with people who know and have a relationship with the Stark family. This guarantees Chrome Heart’s brand integrity and standards are always maintained, any collaboration that prevents that simply won’t happen. Their contemporary cultic following stems from cosigners such as Lagerfeld and Abloh who already have their own loyal dedicated following. Lagerfeld is praised for his work reviving and building Channel to new levels of glory and Abloh is a streetwear messiah, their visual and spoken endorsement and validation alone elevate the perception of Chrome Hearts to the status of the designer’s own work amongst their audience and the fashion world at large. CH is outperforming its competitor’s brand awareness metrics by simply being CH. But we’re just at the top of the funnel.