“I don’t collect Chrome Hearts for the sake of collecting,” says Raphael Badalov, the 22-year-old collector and founder of byraph, home to one of the largest collections of rare Chrome Hearts in the world. “I collect it out of respect for its value and culture, out of love for the brand, the designs, and its history.”
Amid the chaos of New York Fashion Week, as much of the city’s fashion industry races from one show to the next, an unexpected treasure trove opened its doors in Flatiron: an 800-plus-piece collection of rare archival Chrome Hearts spanning the brand’s beginnings in 1988 to today. Designed by Badalov himself, the moody, downtown-cool interior is decked out with a custom-upholstered sofa, Persian rugs, and chains hanging from the ceiling. Racks of rare cross-encrusted sweatshirts and limited-edition denim sit alongside Chrome Hearts furniture, while intricate silver jewelry and stranger objets are displayed behind custom glass vitrines. “This store is really my love letter to Chrome Hearts, expressed through a curation of rare pieces I’ve collected over the years,” he says.
Long before he started collecting rare Chrome Hearts, Badalov’s infatuation with fashion began at a young age. Growing up in Brooklyn, he was inspired by streetwear culture and stores such as VFiles and Opening Ceremony, while his mother’s closet introduced him to high fashion. “I’d go into my mom’s closet and try on her Vetements and realize how transformative clothes can be,” Badalov recalls. “I realized fashion isn’t just having a cool outfit. It’s about expressing yourself. I felt like I was able to radiate my personality with confidence in a way that I couldn’t and still can’t otherwise.”
After internships at labels such as Moncler and jobs at local showrooms, Badalov realized he gravitated most toward vintage, archives, and curation. Shortly before he turned 18, a customer walked into one of those showrooms carrying Chrome Hearts, the Los Angeles–based brand founded in 1988 as a custom leather business for motorcycle riders that has since expanded its Gothic, rock-and-roll aesthetic across fine jewelry, denim, eyewear, furniture, fragrances, and an ever-growing assortment of objects. “Something inside me told me, this is the next brand that’s gonna take over the world,” he remembers, citing it as the moment that prompted him to start collecting archival Chrome Hearts. He was especially fascinated by the limited quantities of its handcrafted pieces, many rendered in sterling silver and 22-karat gold or embellished with diamonds and precious stones. The brand’s cult following only deepened his fascination: Badalov cites Karl Lagerfeld, who amassed an expansive private collection, and Virgil Abloh, whose collaborations ranged from limited-edition Off-White capsules to a handcrafted ebony bench designed with Stark over five years, as personal inspirations. “It was such an anomaly in fashion that was co-signed by such icons, and that’s what really drew me in,” Badalov says.
