Soap Plant Wacko

It began as a small family-run shop in Los Feliz Village. Barbara Shire sold her hand-crafted soaps, Hank Shire designed the graphics for the shop and they ran the store with the help of their two sons, Peter and Billy. Peter Shire worked-out original ceramics and Billy Shire created authentic leatherware. Billy's outrageous leather outfits garnere... d him clients like The New York Dolls and Elton John. In 1974, Billy gained even greater notoriety when his studded denim jacket won a design competition sponsored by Levi Strauss. Billy's custom jacket was later displayed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as part of their "Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity, 1900 - 2000" exhibition and epitomizes the hand-made fashions of 1970s American counter-cultre era. During the early 1980s, Billy became the sole owner of Soap Plant. He decided it was time to move the shop to Melrose Avenue. With this larger building he added books, other ceramics and unique jewelry to the shop's ever-increasing inventory. Soap Plant's eclectic array of curios and wares helped turn Melrose Avenue into an internationally recognized iconic shopping destination. By 1984, Billy began to see potential to expand his small shop by aquiring a couple of vacant storefronts next to Soap Plant, which lead directly to Billy opening the famed WACKO. It served as the only pop culture toy shop with punk rock attitude. Housing the largest collection of postcards in Los Angeles, WACKO offered a veritable nirvana of Japanese robots, tin wind-ups, ephemera, games and novelties. It was 1986 when Billy opened La Luz De Jesus Gallery, upstairs from his flagship store. Showcasing mainly figurative, narrative paintings and unusual sculpture, the exhibitions are post-pop with content ranging from folk to outsider to religious to sexually deviant. The gallery's objective was to bring underground art and counter-culture to the masses. Past shows have been groundbreaking, launching unknown artists who have since become famous, such as Manuel Ocampo, Joe ...Read More