Artist, entrepreneur, real estate magnate, and mom. Laurie Lynn Stark is on top of the world and down to earth. She&rsquo;s blazing new trails, and improving the planet along the way. Rencontre with an icon, in the St Barth community&rsquo;s secret garden where she shares her passion for nature with her loved ones.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Emily Lab

PHILIPPE COMBRES: You edited and published a magazine for Chrome Hearts, and you are a guest editor for L&rsquo;Officiel St Barth. Tell us about your love for magazines and print.
LAURIE LYNN STARK: No matter how far the digital world comes, I&rsquo;ll always have a deep love for printed magazines &ndash; I love something tangible, and I use them as references for my work all the time. They&rsquo;re like a time capsule. And of course, now working as the guest editor of L&rsquo;Officiel St Barth year after year is like sharing a slice of our life. I find so much joy working on this with my kids and our friends on the island.

PC: You are an accomplished photographer and artist. Who are your favorite subjects and muses?
LLS: My kids are my forever-muses, they are constantly inspiring me not just in my art but in life, being able to work side by side with them is one of my greatest gifts. And I love photographing other artists &ndash; I&rsquo;ve shot some of the most influential musicians, chefs, sculptors, engineers &ndash; I find all expressions of art so inspiring and I love capturing them in my photography.

PC: You are photographing Frankie Belle for this issue of L&rsquo;Officiel St Barth for the collaboration between Dipped In Blue and Chrome Hearts. How is it to see your children grow into entrepreneurs?
LLS: I never pushed our kids into the world that we&rsquo;re in &ndash; I exposed them to it, and I offered them a platform, but it was always their choice. So now, seeing them grow into incredible designers who have the incredible business minds to take this to another level is beautiful.

PC: You and your family have a love for nature &amp; conserving it for future generations. How have you managed to build both a fashion empire and a personal life where you are close to nature?
LLS: I think the key is that we have made space for both, we travel so much so it is important to us to make it feel like home wherever we go. And then we also understand that it is equally important to spend time in nature and ground ourselves there. We embrace the culture from wherever we are and draw energy from both business &amp; nature.

PC: Tell us about your belief that it is your responsibility as business owners to nurture &amp; support the communities where you have opened stores.
LLS: To me, there is nothing more important than community. As the world changes from a technology standpoint or from a cultural standpoint, community is everything. None of our stores would have the success they have if we didn&rsquo;t build a strong community internally among our employees &ndash; many of whom have been with us for years (unheard of in this industry) and externally with our neighbors, with the artists and the local crafts people. We spend an unbelievable amount of time researching local artisans in communities &ndash; builders, creators, craftsmen, architects &ndash; and we incorporate their skills into our Chrome Hearts world.

PC: In your partnership with St Barth&rsquo;s Annual Benefit Gala for the Environment and Wellness, you have married your passion for arts with your dedication to conserve natural resources and protect the existing environment in a place you consider home. How important is it to be an ambassador and raise funds for St Barth?
LLS: We take responsibility for where we are, here on the island and wherever we call home &ndash; it&rsquo;s so simple. We are only as healthy as the environment around us is and we have educated ourselves on the best practices. We strive to do better year after year. It&rsquo;s one of my greatest challenges and most rewarding commitments. No one has all of the answers, but I honor anyone who has the right intentions.

PC: Your brand has achieved cult status, and you were recently awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 CFDA Award Ceremony in New York City. How did that feel to receive such an honorable recognition?
LLS: It felt surreal to be among people who I wasn&rsquo;t sure would ever recognize what Richard and I created and nurtured for decades, and to have them celebrate us so warmly. There are so many feelings we had that night but personally, for our family, it was a night for us to cherish each other and know that what we have built together is so strong &amp; so special and to recall everyone who had helped us get here. It was a beautiful moment.

PC: Your inner circle includes talents like Drake, Lenny Kravitz, Kim Kardashian, Lewis Hamilton. What was the break-through moments and people for the Chrome Hearts brand?
LLS: It&rsquo;s so amazing to count all these incredible humans as friends, take away their fame and they are some of the most authentic, beautiful people I&rsquo;ve ever met. That is who they all are to me. Of course they are world class talented and more importantly, they recognize the soul of Chrome Hearts in everything that we make and we share a joint appreciation for the arts.

PC: What does a day in St Barth look like?
LLS: I always swim in the sea, I always meditate, I take life slowly &ndash; it&rsquo;s a place where I ground myself and connect with nature. Filling my days with Pilates, yoga, long coffees at Joel Robuchon, picking up flowers at Bloomy, visiting the nursery La Main Verte and Kikuyu for gardening tools.

PC: What&rsquo;s your dream project in St Barth?
LLS: I would love a sustainable hotel with farm-to-table dining. I have a dream to build community gardens across the island where residents can raise bees, chickens, and native plants so that we can go back to the roots of the island. I started the first project with a friend of mine, he is a local, and he has a beautiful garden with his sister and their parents, buried in the hills of Gustavia, and all together with friends, we planted ginger, bananas, limes, papaya, mango, coconut, gardenias, herbs, and exotic Caribbean flowers. The plentiful array of fruit and vegetables that we were able to grow, and utilizing the droppings of the roosters and chickens, showed how it helped the soil. We also use the runoff from the house to repurpose the water. Everyone has been sharing their gardening techniques and pitching in, including locals who have lived here for three generations. The garden has been flourishing in such a short time, thanks to the love of our community. Hopefully, people will see the bees, butterflies, and lizards and be inspired to create their own gardens. Eventually, it will enhance the ecosystem of St Barth. Everyone can do it.

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 STYLIST: Marissa Baklayan 
 MAKEUP: Daniel Kolaric 
 ART DIRECTOR &amp; EDITOR: Jenny Mannerheim 
 PRODUCTION &amp; STYLING ASSISTANT: Fanny Gogniat 
 ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR : Gisele Lacoursiere
 
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Laurie Lynn Stark's Garden Of Love

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