By Kathleen Furore
Another Halloween is in the books and the Christmas season is coming to an end. What are some ways to march into the new year armed with ideas to perk up sales? Don’t overlook masks!
Because while you might think of creative face covers as predominantly Halloween items, they can boost your bottom line all year, according to Kyra Stewart, owner of A Masquerade Costume in Redmond, Washington—an NCA-member shop that specializes in masquerade art masks.
“After Halloween, chronologically, comes ‘Masquerade Season,’ which lasts approximately through Mardi Gras,” Stewart explains. “In the United States, masquerade balls are popular and common as celebration for New Year's Eve. Ironically, in the United States, we also find secular celebrations of masquerade during the 40 days following Carnevale/Mardi Gras. You would not find this in Italy, but masquerade season extends a little longer in the United States. Masquerade wedding receptions have also been gaining popularity over the last decade. When my customers are looking for more places to wear their masks, I let them know that I will always post on my Facebook page about any public parties and celebrations all year round.”
How did Stewart decide to make masks such a big part of her business? And what advice does she offer other costumers interested in expanding the category?
The Costumer: Masquerade Costume carries a much wider selection of masks than most other costume shops. How did you get into specializing in the mask category?
Stewart: When I started a costume rental business in 1999 from a private collection of costumes, I also had 10 handmade art masks from Italy that I offered for rent. The masks depicted commedia dell'arte characters, archetypes, from which all comedy blossoms. Commedia dell'arte masks date back to the Renaissance but have been in continual use up until modern times, for two primary purposes: character identification in physical theater, and anonymity during the carnival season, just before Lent (aka Mardi Gras). To me, masks are a basic foundation of theater and celebration, and my business serves both purposes.
The collection has grown over the years, and the selection changes, as customers acquire the inventory, and as I meet new mask artists. Twenty years since I began offering my collection to the public, I now typically have around 500 masks in stock at any given time.
I like to support local artists as well as artists who are maintaining mask-making traditions in Brazil and Italy and other places around the globe.
The masks are displayed prominently in the store and well-lit, as a museum of handmade wearable art. When people are browsing, I let them in on the secret—that a mask chooses you, rather than you choosing a mask. The art speaks to our alter egos, a reflection.
The Costumer: Do you offer any kind of mask-making classes or other events to help promote masks?
Stewart: One of the artists whose work we feature goes by the name FaceOdd. It's a play on the word facade. She works with beef industry by-product leather incorporating natural flaws of the hides into her designs. And she regularly schedules workshops for people to learn how to make their own leather art masks. We promote her classes and workshops through our store.
Whenever we hear about a masquerade event or class, usually from someone shopping in our store, or from one of our artists, we like to pass the word and use our Facebook business page as the way to get people excited about mask wearing, and mask making, opportunities.
The Costumer: What advice would you have for independent costume shop owners who are looking to add or expand the mask category?
Stewart: Choose masks that complement the rest of your collection. Be ready to show customers what they can wear WITH that mask, including your wigs, headwear, cloaks, formal wear, period costumes, exciting footwear, etc. There are no hard rules for masquerade, so help them play with mashups of history and find their radical self-expression. Make the mask seem like the central part to a complete head-to-toe look. Everything else in your store is what goes with those masks!