Chrome Hearts

Chrome Hearts was originally founded in 1988 by Richard Stark and leather manufacturer John Bowman in a Los Angeles garage. Stark and Bowman couldn’t find leather jackets on the market that they wanted to wear, so they started to make their own. Sterling silver jeweler Leonard Kamhout joined the operation shortly after. The first big exposure for the brand came from legendary punk rock band, the Sex Pistols. The then-girlfriend of lead guitarist Steve Jones was starring a low-budget horror comedy from 1989 titled Chopper Chicks in Zombietown and Chrome Hearts designed some costumes for the movie. Jones took a liking to the brand and began wearing it on stage. From there, other big bands like Motley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses started wearing the Chrome Hearts' leather pieces and accessories as well, which began to establish the brand as an essential part of the rockstar uniform at the time.