At Chrome Hearts with Lauren Ezerksy

Meet Lauren Ezersky. A front row fixture on the New York fashion scene, the native New Yorker is best known as the effervescent host of the Style Network show, "Behind the Velvet Ropes," producer of Ken Downing's Fashion Week videos for NeimanMarcus.com, former Paper magazine columnist and seriously stylish girl-about-town.

Though she has, in recent years, traded in her signature Cruella De Vil skunk-striped 'do for a chic grey bob and jettisoned her 'gowns-in-the-daytime with sky-high Manolos' for an edgier motorcycle mama look, Ezersky was, is, and will always be, one of the coolest chicks in the fashion industry.

Her show can now be found online at behindthevelvetropes.tv, and when she's not covering Fashion Week, interviewing designers, scouting the latest trends or hosting her weekly radio show on New York's WLIU, Ezersky herself can often be found shopping at Chrome Hearts, purveyor of luxury biker chic. Which is where Splendora contributor, Lauren David Peden (aka, The Fashion Informer), recently caught up with Ezersky for a little pre-holiday retail therapy.

"Oh my Gawd, Chrome Hearts is an addiction," crowed Ezersky in her distinctive Noo Yawk accent when we arrived at the store on East 64th Street. "I don't just love it, I worship it. It's so hard to explain to someone that doesn't understand fashion, but Chrome Hearts is not really fashion, it's a lifestyle." She picked up a long, dagger-like Jarvis pendant designed by artist Joe Foti. "Everything here is so precious, even though it's sterling silver. It's all hand crafted, everything is specially made, it never goes on sale, it's really hard to get, and when you have it you just covet it and you want to live in it and wear it all the time. I actually have quite a few pieces from them that I got, like, 10, 15 years ago that I still wear today."

See Lauren Ezersky at Chrome Hearts Slideshow >>