The screen is on, and I’m about to start an online conversation with a man who creates shirts — but not simple ones. Suddenly, the portrait of Monte Melkonian, an Armenian American revolutionary and left-wing nationalist militant, appears. There are many other details on the shirt, and I start thinking about how much diaspora Armenians love demonstrating and indicating that they are Armenian. In the homeland, where I live, this kind of thing is not that popular. And I start thinking: What makes these people tell the world they are Armenian with such passion?
Hrach Ghazanchyan was born in Armavir and moved to Los Angeles when he was 10. At 17, Hrach joined the military and ended up celebrating his 18th birthday in boot camp, followed by 23 years of military service. When he retired, he traveled to Armenia with his daughters to live there for a month. Hrach hadn’t been to Armenia since he left when he was 10.
“I wanted to give my girls an opportunity to feel our history, to learn it, to explore it. The best way was to travel in Armenia, visit the city where I was born, where I went to school for a while,” he said.
During his military service, Hrach traveled to many countries, encountered new cultures and often questioned who he was and where he came from. When he landed in Armenia, the questions disappeared because there was nothing left to explain; everything was clear.
“It was home, my home. And I had this feeling of, ‘I’m home,’” Hrach said.
When they moved to the U.S., the First Nagorno-Karabakh War had started, and he didn’t know much about Monte Melkonian. He felt the gap of not knowing much about Armenian heritage and the people who had greatly influenced its history.
In 2016, Hrach was on active military duty when his unit needed a shirt design. He said he would give it a shot because his father used to be a jeweler, and Hrach had always loved design. So he did, and they liked it. It all started as a hobby, but in 2022, after Hrach retired, his father died.
“When someone important dies, it’s not only a challenging time, but also a possibility to rethink your life. So, I started Hayk Heritage after Hayk, the forefather,” he said.
Every shirt by Hayk Heritage has a history, and every time he designs a new shirt, the founder reads about a specific part of Armenian history or culture, which brings forth new layers worth exploring in his work. This is his way of getting to know more about his ancestors’ heritage and bringing new life to it. When people receive the shirt and if they like the design, it inspires them to research and understand, for example, who the goddess Astghik, who appeared on the shirt, was. “When I saw her statue in Yerevan, I was amazed and inspired. I didn’t copy the statue, no. It’s my own interpretation of what I saw, what I understood.”
What inspires Hrach is curiosity to learn and a desire to bring a new idea to life. When he is working, it is sometimes difficult to find enough information to help him create. His own interpretation comes in addition to the information he manages to research or obtain.
It’s an interesting path: A diaspora Armenian who left Armenia so many years ago and feels he doesn’t know enough about its history now learns that background and, through it, creates shirts. And every time, with each new design, he begins another journey of discovery. Many people abroad love wearing shirts that indicate they are Armenian. It’s a way to show you are Armenian and tell people stories about Armenia, because many people ask questions about what you are wearing and what country the shirt represents.
“I did a design that had David of Sasun, and I got a message from a customer saying this shirt gives them the sense of having supernatural powers. I was happy the shirt gave him that sense of power,” Hrach told the Weekly.
With each new design, he begins another journey of discovery.
According to Hrach, the customers’ favorite shirts so far are Sasuntsi David, Avarayr and the ones with khachkars. These shirts are made for Armenians around the world. Initially, the main target was the Armenian American community, but then it expanded globally. The unisex shirts can be found online on the Hayk Heritage website. Currently, Hrach is working on Strong Nazar, or Qaj Nazar, a famous character created by Hovhannes Tumanyan. It’s a challenging task for Hrach, and he is still in the process of researching and reading a lot.
He experiences every product personally. He wears it, washes it, irons it, checks the quality and then it becomes available for purchase.
“Our identity has survived generations, borders and loss. Sometimes it was spoken openly, sometimes carried quietly. But it was always there,” Hrach said.
“Our identity has survived generations, borders and loss. Sometimes it was spoken openly, sometimes carried quietly. But it was always there,” Hrach said.
Hrach says this business is about informing people about Armenian culture. Sometimes sketches do not become designs but provide a new perspective on Armenian culture. This is a creative process where minimalism doesn’t have a place, because every shirt is about many characters or stories.
For someone who left Armenia as a child, Armenian identity sometimes has to be remembered, rediscovered and even reconstructed. Hrach does it in his own way, turning each shirt into a small piece of a much larger history.
And perhaps this is why people wear them so proudly. A shirt can be a conversation starter, a reminder of where someone came from or a way of carrying a part of Armenia into places where it might otherwise remain invisible.
Photos courtesy of Hrach Ghazanchyan.
For someone who left Armenia as a child, Armenian identity sometimes has to be remembered, rediscovered and even reconstructed.
