Matt DiGiacomo on Chrome Hearts and Personal Style
L'OFFICIEL caught up with L.A.-based creative Matt Digiacomo.
Photography by Ricardo Gomes
Styled by Rita Melssen and Jordan Beckett
Known for his tongue-in-cheek illustrations, artist Matt Digiacomo has turned his many collaborations with celebrity-favorite brand Chrome Hearts into a full-time gig, now serving as the creative director. Although his personal style has developed with time, he has never changed it to suit anything other than his own interests.
L'OFFICIEL: How did you develop your style?
MATT DIGIACOMO: Growing up, my friends and I all listened to punk rock and ’80s hardcore, like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Reagan Youth, and Wasted Youth, so I had a bit of that DIY ethos. I was making one-off pieces—I would take a jacket, cut it up, and sew patches onto it. Not with my art because I wasn’t drawing yet; I was using old patches of American flags and punk bands that I found, and I would draw on top of them with other stencils. Eventually I got the idea that this would be a cool thing to do: making one-off pieces for people.
"If I don't do it, someone else will."
L'O: How did you begin working for Chrome Hearts?
MD: I started working for a concept store in Malibu called Salvation, and they had a big Brother printer that I could use to print shoes and jackets. We did a lot of punk tees that we’d give away because nobody wanted to buy them. Laurie Lynn Stark, the owner of Chrome Hearts—whom I knew because I grew up with her daughter—came in one day and was like, “What are you doing? Come work for me.” So I started working for them, mostly assistant work under a designer, until one day I just grabbed a jacket and cut it up and sewed on patches with my own art, and showed it to Laurie and her husband and co-owner, Richard. They were like, “Damn, this is cool. We’ll put it in Paris.” Well, that thing sold out, and I did another one, and that sold out too. I just kept selling out without anyone really knowing who I was. In 2013 I made some pieces for Jared Leto, which were seen by the right people. Soon my designs were very sought after, all while I was still learning how to make a collection. It was organic; I worked without anyone telling me how to do it.
L'O: What is your work ethos?
MD: I think my generation of people have these good ideas and they get frustrated that nothing happens. It’s as it’s always been—if you have an idea, you pursue it: you sketch it, you design it, then you try to sell it. You have to see it through. Every project I’ve ever worked on, every painting I’ve ever started, I know if I can’t get that thing done, it’s an L. I’m losing, because if I don't do it, someone else will.
HAIR Andy Lecompte
MAKEUP Wendi Miyake
TAILOR Shirlee Idzakovich
PHOTO ASSISTANT Brandon Minton
STYLIST ASSISTANT Elliott Soriano
HAIR AND MAKEUP ASSISTANTS Axel Rojas, Jordann Aguon, and Ty Sanderson
