Chrome Hearts Eyewear
A Mystery?
Chrome Hearts – the luxury punk from Hollywood – is best known for 925 silver jewelry and rock‑star leather jackets. But where do the hard‑to‑find Chrome Hearts glasses actually come from? Through long research, we uncovered that Vintage Sunglasses even played a small part in shaping Chrome Hearts’ eyewear story.
As mentioned here , the Chrome Hearts cult really gained momentum in 1994 when Richard Stark turned it into a family business.
Richard and his wife, Laurie Lynn, created a lifestyle brand where everything aligns perfectly. In such a lifestyle, glasses and sunglasses become essential style-shaping accessories. But bringing a vision to life often requires the right partner.
Larry Sands
Mastermind behind Chrome Hearts eyewear
Richard and Laurie Lynn found in Larry Sands exactly that partner – someone who brought the perfection and passion Chrome Hearts embodies. Sands isn’t just anyone; he’s the godfather of American luxury opticianry – the mogul behind OSI (Optical Shop International) and OSA (Optical Shop Aspen). Driven, pragmatic, and detail-obsessed, he rejects junk‑chic and relentlessly pursues his ideas. His love for music connected him with Richard Stark from then on.
From 1962 to 1969, Sands lived the dream of a rock‑star life in a band called Bartok’s Mountain – sharing stages with legends like Led Zeppelin and The Byrds. At the height of that musical journey, he chose to return to business – Sands already owned five optical stores before 1962. Making music and designing glasses require the same kind of creativity and attention to detail. As he told 20/20 Magazine:
“It’s all about every single note and if you sound a wrong one the whole song is ruined. And you don’t fix it by throwing money at it. You throw yourself at it.”
Chrome Hearts sunglasses
“Fuck You” mixed with honesty, wisdom, loyalty
In 1999, Richard Stark and Larry Sands began their mission: expanding the Chrome Hearts universe with sunglasses the world had never seen. The original collection was initially rejected—Sands was literally writing “Fuck You” on the frames. Opticians were shocked and didn’t know what to do with such provocative eyewear.
But eight months later, the tide turned. Suddenly, opticians were buying everything with that “Fuck You” tagline. Demand exploded—as if by magic. Sands recalls:
„I almost felt like I invented the word fuck for a while.“
To reach a wider audience, Stark and Sands moved the “Fuck You” inside the frame. Later, they replaced it with playful, cryptic names like Medixadryl (an antibiotic‑style name), Skyy (after the vodka they drank), or Box Lunch. Inspired by pornstars, bikers, rockstars, and drug dealers, names followed like Dismembered, Drilled, Filled, GAG’N, or Erected – all contributing to the luxury‑villain brand image.
What’s striking is that these provocative luxury sunglasses wore classic Chrome Hearts symbols. In addition to the Celtic cross, which symbolizes strength, faith, and protection, these include the fleur-de-lis, which stands for honesty, wisdom, and loyalty.
Chrome Hearts thus tied lasting values to a rebellious aesthetic – not chasing trends, but defining everlasting style.
Chrome Hearts Moist 2017
Larry Sands is granted a 20‑year Chrome Hearts eyewear license
After three years of prototyping in Italy, Laurie Lynn Stark writes on Instagram:
„First Chrome Hearts glasses ever made in a small factory in Italy. It’s sentimental to me working during and before these times with all these amazing artists who live there craft. Such pride and love to Every person that it takes to make one pair of glasses.“
Larry Sands received the license from Richard Stark in 2002 to produce Chrome Hearts eyewear.
Chrome Hearts Gittin Any 52
In the interview with 20/20 Magazine, Sands explains
„The crowning glory to my career was acquiring the license to a little-known brand called Chrome Hearts, an LA based luxury lifestyle line of clothing, furniture, jewelry and executive gadgetry. I have been a Chrome Hearts fan for over 15 years. Chrome Hearts represents everything I have always loved about life. All the leather, great jewelry and unbelievable furniture. The complete Rock and Roll lifestyle which (Thank you God!)“
Sands viewed Stark not as a business partner, but as a good friend—someone he could’ve jammed with in a rock band. Their unprecedented 20-year licensing deal between OSI and Chrome Hearts became perhaps the most important “song” of Sands’ life.
Vintage Sunglasses as inspiration for Chrome Hearts glasses
Larry Sands admits openly that inspiration comes from everywhere. On the Coffeez for Closers podcast with Joe Shalaby, he said:
„Writing music and designing eyewear, there's some correlation there. I think you're creating something. I can't explain it. It's maybe the art in me or the little bit of artistic savvy I have. I'm not going to call it talent because I can see something I really love by another designer and say, I love that, but I'm going to make a couple of changes and make it better. By the way, that's how most designers work. If you ever see Ralph Lauren's office, it's cut and paste from old stuff to new stuff, and that's the way it works. So if I see. If I see a frame I like, I usually. Somebody's wearing it, I. I usually start thinking about how I could make that look a little bit better.“
While researching Chrome Hearts eyewear, we noticed a familiar name. Troy Schmidt, president of OSA, bought some interesting vintage glasses from us Between 2007–2011. We couldn’t place the delivery address at 915 N Mansfield Ave, Los Angeles, CA. We even asked for proof. Today we know it's the Chrome Hearts HQ in West Hollywood. So we’re in the same league as pornstars, bikers, rockstars – when it comes to inspiration.
Why Vintage Sunglasses carries Chrome Hearts – and where they come from
If you want to buy Chrome Hearts sunglasses online, you'll discover they're always “only available in store.” Chrome Hearts strictly regulates internet sales with its partners. But we’re not a direct Chrome Hearts partner – we’re passionate about the older eyewear models we painstakingly source around the world. It would be fascinating to know Larry Sands’ thoughts – he’s been working since 2023 on Bugatti’s new sunglasses line. Because at our store, you can also get some of the old Bugatti sunglasses and old Matsuda glasses—the latter another of Sands’ past brands.
A shared appreciation –
There’s another connection between us
We both hold a deep respect for Christian Roth’s work. We’re in direct dialogue with Christian Roth, who closely collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld—whose Optical Affairs creations we proudly carry in our shop.
James J. Spina, who interviewed Larry Sands for 20/20 Magazine in 2009, captured it well:
„…but throw out a bunch of high-profile “deluxe” names to him and Sands mellows with sincere fond compliments. Highest regard is lavished on the iconic Christian Roth …“
Larry Sands, who has crafted eyewear for Elton John and knows the entire “who’s who” of music and fashion, shared his admiration for Karl Lagerfeld when asked about the most impressive personalities of his career:
“Karl Lagerfeld is like getting a phone call from God to help me read the Bible.”
Interview mit Joe Shalaby, 2025
