Jess West is launching something more “over the top” than the impressive costumes she’s known for designing. On March 24, 2024 (her 40th birthday), Jess will open the doors to Monsterz Inc., a unique space that’s part artists salon, part costume shop, part event venue, part thrift store—and more to come.
Located in Irvington, a town appropriately well-known for its annual Halloween festivities, the 3,500-square-foot space will offer a “unique blend of spooky horror-themed high-end art” by artists with skills from furniture repurposing to haunted house designing.
The opening day will be free and open to all ages from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. with a ticketed event for adults from 5-11 p.m., including a drag show, a comedy set, and multiple DJs in a lounge-like setting.
Here’s what West had to share about her new venture.
Why this shop? Why now?
“I know how hard it was as an artist myself to find a cool space. I thought, how amazing it would be to lead a team of really amazing artists given the spot to do some like dope things, and give people a space that’s something different than what they’re traditionally used to.”
In addition to the artists, what will visitors find at Monsterz Inc.?
It’s also going to be a costume shop because we don’t have that in the city since Margie’s closed. It will have my own inventory—I want to give it a good home and have people shop my personal collection over the years or just thrift store finds. And I have something called Twisted Thrifter.
What’s Twisted Thrifter?
I take thrift store clothes, upcycle them, and make something cool.
It’s the premise of this whole shop. It’s kind of the premise of this whole shop. Partly because we’re a start-up but also it’s just really good for the environment. Other people’s trash is my treasure. It’s really fun to get creative. Scarcity breeds creativity, too.
What can we expect in the future for Monsterz Inc.?
We’re looking for artists, I want to find quirky artists that have special talents and
interesting things they do. We’ll also take donations in the future for furniture, clothes, things like that we can use and also will have consignment.
This party sounds amazing. What should we know if we want to go?
It’s a costume party! Wear a costume or a fun outfit. We have a few VIP tables left, each one has a fun theme and comes with a bottle of champagne.
Get tickets to the Grand Opening here. Visit www.jesswestcostumes.com and follow @jesswestcostumes for more information about Monsterz Inc.
Leslie Bailey is the cofounder and CEO of Indy Maven.
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