(The brand currently maintains more than 225 registrations in the U.S.) Trademark applications filed with the USPTO by Chrome HeartsĬhrome Hearts has presumably been able to leverage those assets as an integral element of the value of its company after all, it reportedly nabbed a $1.5 billion valuation when it “quietly sold 10 percent of to a private equity firm for $150 million,” per WWD.Īnd beyond that, the brand can rely on those registrations when it takes infringers to task, which it regularly does. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), as well as international trademark bodies, which have enabled the company to build up an arsenal of intangible assets for various word marks, stylized iterations of its brand name, and no shortage of Celtic crosses, fleur de lys, and horse shoe icons that have come to serve as indicators of the Chrome Hearts brand in the minds of consumers.
CHROME HEARTS RING ON HAND REGISTRATION
Underway behind the scenes of Chrome Hearts’ public rise has been a steady flow of trademark applications for registration lodged with the U.S. (Sources for TFL were unable to confirm whether the brand’s sales have “fluctuated significantly” over the past 5 to 6 years.) Building Out the BrandĪside from building out their retail footprint to upwards of 30 stores, and expanding their offerings beyond jewelry and leather goods to Bella Hadid-endorsed crop tops and those increasingly-ubiquitous cross-adorned jeans, Chrome Hearts’ surge in popularity comes as the company has been working overtime to build out its brand. Stark did, however, reveal in late 2019 that the company’s business was “growing tremendously,” a seeming nod to notable revenue gains. Reps for the privately-held Chrome Hearts – which was founded in 1988 by former leather dealer Richard Stark, who now runs the 800-person company with his wife, Laurie Lynn – have “declined to comment on revenues,” as previously reported by WWD’s Booth Moore. A rep for The RealReal told TFL that over the past two years (from the first-half of 2019 to H1 of 2021), demand for the brand has increased two-fold on the luxury resale platform, with such rising interest prompting the average selling price for Chrome Hearts wares to grow by 63 percent, and the resale value of the brand’s offerings to increase by upwards of 30 percent over the same two-year period. Meanwhile, resale sites like The RealReal and StockX are rife with Chrome Hearts products – from $400-plus cotton t-shirts and $6,000 jeans to $500 embroidered baseball caps and sterling silver jewelry that reaches well into the $8,000 range – and demand there is growing, as well. The brand does not put its wares on sale. Barth’s (and plans for two more stores in London and Paris) additional product categories and an ever-expanding list of ultra-famous clients that range from Elton John and Cher to Rihanna and the Jenners, and not famous but nonetheless deep-pocketed fans, who clamor for its cross-adorned t-shirts and denim, as well as its eyewear, home goods, and its jewelry, of course – all of which sells at full-price. Last year, men’s fashion and streetwear marketplace Grailed put Chrome Hearts in the number 10 spot on its annual “Best Brands” list, a nod to the fact that the Los Angeles-based brand – which Grailed says is difficult to acquire due to the fact that it only stocks its handcrafted offerings in “its own outposts and very curated roster of partners” – saw “a major jump in popularity over the course of 2020.” More recently, in its first-half Current Culture Index, StockX revealed that sales of Chrome Hearts wares on its platform were up by 2,200 percent between Januand June 30, thanks – in part – to a number of successful collaborations that were rolled out by the brand.Ĭollaborations – such as ones that have seen Chrome Hearts pair up with the likes of Off-White founder Virgil Abloh, Drake, and supermodel Bella Hadid, among others – are part of a larger boost in demand for the brand, which coincides with a growing number of brick-and-mortar stores, including its 16,000-square-foot flagship in New York’s West Village and a new outpost in St. Over three decades after its founding, Chrome Hearts is in the midst of a surge in popularity.
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