When Chrome Hearts releases a hoodie, it’s a big deal. It’s an even bigger deal when a new hoodie from the ever-exclusive streetwear brand goes on sale online weeks before it’s technically released because, if ya don't know, Chrome Hearts simply does not do digital drops.
So consider yourself lucky to experience this moment, as Chrome Hearts quietly released its “1988" hoodie for $550 pre-order on its website in early April.
What better way to ring in the spring season than with the quintessential “if you know, you know” hoodie?
Except for the fact that if you didn't know, you didn't know.
The 1988 hoodie is a reference to the year that Chrome Hearts was founded in Los Angeles by Richard Stark — whose family still oversees the brand — John Bowman, and silversmith Leonard Kamhout, the latter of which provided the label its signature sterling silver grommets and details on its first leather jackets.
This most recent hoodie has the label’s name in its iconic font on the sleeves and on the front right. According to the website, the hoodie also has sterling silver grommets and was produced in the USA, as is typical of Chrome Hearts.
And it's already gone.
Though it released on Chrome Hearts' web store on April 3, the 1988 hoodie has already been taken down. Perhaps it sold out (on pre-order, no less!) or perhaps it was an extremely limited offer.
Unfortunate for the massive amount of Chrome Hearts fans who'd love to buy the secretive luxury label's wares online, truly. The brand's web store does offer a few bits and pieces on on occasion but primarily only socks, scents, and its collaborative Baccarat glassware.
The 1988 hoodie drop was a fascinating moment in Chrome Hearts history, if only because it represented one of the imprint's scant digital D2C moments but it's already gone.
Chrome Hearts' furtive history is steeped in biker and rock 'n roll culture and was a go-to for many a wealthy individual throughout the ‘90s and early aughts. Karl Lagerfeld was a fan. Even Martha Stewart wears it.
The label then got a second life of sorts when the stars of aughts hip-hop, like Jay Z, Future, and Travis Scott, began showing off a wealth of Chrome Hearts hoodies and t-shirts.
In 2015, Virgil Abloh helmed a collab between his label, Off-White™ and Chrome Hearts, the first of many and one of CH's first proper streetwear co-signs though not its first collab: Chrome Hearts would sometimes partner with similarly trailblazing label COMME des GARÇONS every now and again.
Since then, the label has continued to collaborate with its close friends, notably with Bella Hadid in 2017 and Drake for the launch of 2021's Certified Lover Boy.
Everyone wants it. But only a few can actually have it. Don't get too used to the idea of buying Chrome Hearts online.
