Opening reception and performance: November 22, 2008, 10PM
Store dates: November 22, 2008 – January 15, 2008
Store hours: by appointment only

Eighteen-thirty collective members S.S. Halajian are proud to present HIDE by Concept Store, an examination of popular fashion design practices. Combining sculpture, fashion, and performance art, Concept Store utilizes unconventional materials to create wearable art for purchase at eighteen-thirty, an experimental performance space in Echo Park. Through armor-like pieces and shielding silhouettes, Concept Store explores fashion practice as an investigative art form that is both conceptual and unrestrained, while questioning the increasingly market-and-profit-driven understanding of fashion design.

Concept Store’s first project HIDE replicates a paranoid narrative where one is driven to a heightened desire for security in an increasingly complicated and invasive world. Through the various interpretations of the word, HIDE embodies the need to protect through secrecy, to be protected through shelter, and to cover oneself in thick skin.

The November 22nd event will include a performative fashion show bringing this narrative to life, choreography by Ryan Heffington, live music by local performer and eighteen-thirty collective member Alex Black, and the launch of Concept Store as an ongoing installation at eighteen-thirty.

About the artists:
As co-founding members of eighteen-thirty, Shoghig Halajian and Suzy Halajian are involved in various Los Angeles alternative arts organizations. With backgrounds in Literature and Economics, S.S. Halajian approach their work from an outsider’s perspective. Their interest in fashion design extends beyond the practical as they create, curate, and offer a design aesthetic unbound by market demands.

Ryan Heffington is Co-Artistic Director of Hysterica Dance Company and has been nominated for Best Male Performer, Best Small Group Ensemble, and Costume Design by the Horton Awards. He is renowned for his blend of high and low art through performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the HammerMuseum, as well as local bars and clubs . He teaches dance at various studios including Sweaty Sundays, a dance class for dancers and nondancers alike. Heffington’s sold out performances make it more accessible to the public.