Hollywood's experimental retail venue Space 15 Twenty gives Urban Outfitters an opportunity to collaborate with creative brands, LA-based artists and musicians. Gwen Barba takes stock.

HOLLYWOOD. Born into an economy that is shaky at best, Space 15 Twenty faces a consumer population too busy outfitting chastity belts for their wallets to shop. Yet, with a liquor license on the way and an intriguing concept that mingles art, fashion and music in one open atmosphere, there is at least a reasonable hope of tempting the hearts of Los Angeles' shrinking expendable income demographic.

The Urban Outfitters brainchild, which opened in Hollywood last December, is essentially a high-minded mall, if such a thing could exist, with stores, a gallery, performance space and Snackbar (sno-cones!) all linked by an exposed brick courtyard and a flowing inside/outside layout. Taking short attention spans into account, Space 15 Twenty promises a rotating cast of vendors, artists and musicians with Urban Outfitters acting as the ever-present anchor. While there will be hits and misses for sure, the rotation is intended to keep things fresh, presumably while insulating the space against the stagnation of unproductive long-term leases.

Though the "retail experiment" aspect of Space 15 Twenty is most evident at night and on the weekends when bands play and gallery openings draw out the hipsters, what happens during the day is pretty standard: people shop.

Currently, Samantha Pleet, Alife, What Comes Around Goes Around, Hennessey + Ingalls and We the Free offer everything from vintage Pucci mini-dresses to the latest issue of Visionaire.

In particular, the gallery seems to promise the most surprises, bringing art to an audience that is more interested in curating their own personal spaces than building a museum worthy private collection. This is a consumer group that has been tapped into before (Urban Outfitters, West Elm and Anthropologie all offer somewhat anonymous art that will work nicely with your pillows) but this is different. Practicing artists and curators with a strong point of view show their wares in a traditional gallery setting, but it's softened by the accessible nature of the retail environment.

On display until February is TV Books, the "physical form" of Tim Barber's Tiny Vices. While most of the pieces aren't exactly priced to fly off the walls ($400 to $7500), a collection of limited edition posters (unframed $30, framed $200) seem doable enough, for those who still have walls to hang art on.

While it would be easy to be critical of Space 15 Twenty - the packaged experience does feel like the product of an advertising meeting rather than the fluid urban landscape that it attempts to mimic (think pseudo-vintage t-shirt, very Urban Outfitters) - it is still a welcome addition to the tourist driven, club wasteland that is Hollywood, and a refreshing escape from the strip mall aesthetic that seems to pervade Los Angeles. In a way, maybe the timing isn't so bad after all. Now more than ever, it's going to require greater ingenuity to pry those crumpled dollar bills out of tightly clenched fists than it did in more, shall we say, loose times.

THE DETAILS: Space 15 Twenty
Live Music Every Sunday in the Courtyard. 2PM
1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
www.space15twenty.com

Story by Gwen Barba.
Original Publication date: January 12, 2009

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