Today, BoF can exclusively reveal that London designer Gareth Pugh has partnered with Los Angeles leather and accessories label Chrome Hearts, owned by Richard and Laurie Lynn Stark, to produce a 14-piece collection.
Sparked by personal kinship and a mutual love for artistry and craftsmanship, experimental British designer Gareth Pugh has partnered with high-end Los Angeles leather and accessories label Chrome Hearts, owned by husband-and-wife team
Richard and Laurie Lynn Stark. Based on three looks from Pugh’s Spring/Summer 2014 collection, the 14-piece collaboration consists of cast bustiers, floor-length skirts, structured jackets and accessories like shoes and gloves.
After Pugh’s Spring/Summer 2014 runway show in Paris, the designer and his partner Carson McColl took off with Stark on an impromptu whirlwind trip to Los Angeles, where Chrome Hearts Online’ 200,000 square feet factory is based. “The tour of the factory was incredible,” recalled Pugh. “To see how they make all of, even the chains and how each link is cast individually.” The brand’s chunky silver jewellery — engraved with the fleurs-de-lys, crosses, and other motifs that
Chrome Hearts has made its own — has achieved cult status. The 25 year-old brand counts personalities as diverse as varied as singer Cher and Korean pop star G-Dragon as fans, and has a network of 22 standalone stores in the world.
“It’s something that happened very naturally,” Pugh told BoF. Introduced by Michèle Lamy, wife and business partner of American-born designer Rick Owens (the two own a 49 percent stake in Pugh’s label), Pugh and Laurie Lynn Stark of Chrome
Hearts began a transatlantic creative collaboration that was split between London and Los Angeles. “I’ve been a huge fan of his — really, since a long time ago, I started going to the shows, loving and trying to get a piece just for myself,” said Stark.
