An LA Creative Unleashed: RTH Shop 2 in Los Angeles - Remodelista
Photography by Michael A. Muller for Remodelista. I fortuitously was in Los Angeles when René Holguin, owner of LA cult clothing and leather goods shop RTH, opened his second outpost, RTH Shop 2. As he explains, “Every artist has their board or wall of ideas, and the whole concept for RTH Shop 2 was for it to be an inspiration wall that comes to life.” To that end René, a clothing designer and master of merchandising, has brought together a mix of photography, art objects, ceramics, and drawings with his own clothing in the backdrop. He explains, “I didn’t want our product to take over, it’s the artists I want to be featured.” The result is a very personal and passionate combination that makes the store feel like more than the sum of its parts. A look at RTH Shop 2’s richly layered mix of drawings, tapestries, beads, and other of René’s finds. Pillows and throws made from vintage textiles on a chair by Environment. A South American palo santo stick burns in the store and has become Shop 2’s signature scent (Shop 1 smells like American cedar). René Holguin in an RTH Four-Pocket Shirt stands in front of a large drawing that London artist Tom “Birdman” Webb made for the RTH opening. Around René’s neck are pieces he has worn forever. Every one of them has a story and is a reminder of a person or a place. The cedar stools were custom-made for RTH and are available to order. The photography throughout the store is by René’s good friend Jay Carroll of One Trip Pass and is from his Residents series shot in Arcosanti with RTH. The cedar screens with leather hinges, like the stools, were locally made for the store. René specifically left the wood raw to let it take on its own patina and weather in the same way that leather and blue jeans wear with age. Rows of string lights on the ceiling feature different sized bulbs and wattages. The large ceramic pots are by Mitsuko Ikeno and were inspired by a small sake glass that René asked her to make bigger. A group of wood-carved peace signs peeks out among the display cases of jewelry. The striped blanket-rug on the Garza Marfa chair looks Native American but is actually Persian. A second large-format drawing that Tom Webb created for the store. And for more of Jay Carroll’s work, see the piece he shot for us on June Taylor, Queen of Preserves.