Quinn, Meghan
STORE OF THE ISH
Issue #31
Show Pony
By Mengly Taing
Published: March 1st, 2007 | 12:00am
Beyond Los Angeles’ ever-expanding skyline and its luminous Hollywood lights is a charming little shop nestled in the city’s artistic Echo Park neighborhood. Show Pony, opened in 2000 by proprietor and artist Kime Buzzelli, is a living, breathing art project. A hybrid of clothing boutique and art gallery, the shop functions more like a cooperative than a retail operation.
For more than six years, Buzzelli, a former middle-school art teacher, has used her store to help nurture local artists, giving them a space to experiment and come into their own. On the first Saturday of each month, she hosts a block party to promote Show Pony’s collaboration with an emerging artist whom she invites to redesign the store’s interior with his or her artwork. The monthly spectacle draws creative types from near and far who come to sip wine, listen to live music, and take part in the evening’s revelry.
The store’s collection of one-of-a-kind, wearable art features vintage-inspired pieces with modern flair, designed by young, avant-garde artists such as Legion of Decency by Laura Kranitz, In God We Trust by Shana Tabor, and Miss KK. The store also carries Buzzelli’s own line of pop culture–inspired, silk-screened tunics and tees.
The ever-imaginative Buzzelli has described her shop as a place to play dress-up and let one’s inner artist fly free, and artists of all types are welcome. “At the moment, we carry a lot of designers who are actually full-time singers or band members, who create clothes as a side job,” she says of such musically-inclined contributors as Astrid Quay of the Winter Flowers, who makes braided leather and feather headpieces, and Heather Porcaro of the Heartstring Symphony, who makes flapper-style dresses.
“A lot of the kids have moved on,” Buzzelli said with a smile, her pedagogical tendencies shining through. “For me, that’s really exciting. It’s like seeing your students graduate.”
Show Pony is located at 1543 Echo Park Avenue (at Grafton Street) in Los Angeles (213.482.7676). Visit myspace.com/27045436 and kimebuzzelli.etsy.com for more information.
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