Photo by Oscar Mendoza @bosskie
Westedge 20-22 November 2025
For WestEdge’s 10th anniversary, Welcome to the Brightside—led by creative director Katie Brightside—had the privilege of designing a vignette in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity.
The installation began with a single idea drawn from Once Upon a Cocktails, an initiative from Welcome to the Brightside’s forthcoming book The California Guide to the Non-Alcoholic Movement. The book introduces the concept of “zebra striping,” the practice of alternating one drink on and one drink off. With no formal theme assigned, Welcome to the Brightside expanded this idea and pushed it to its visual limits.
Photo by Oscar Mendoza @bosskie
The result is a glimpse inside the creative mind of Welcome to the Brightside, where multiple imaginative worlds overlap. On the left side of the space, an interactive hand-painted zebra-striped mural evolved over the course of the three-day residency as visitors added their own contributions. On the right, the primary mural-wallpaper design Welcome to the Jungle—a lush setting populated with zebras—is paired with a vintage rattan bar stocked with Amass and De Soi. Together, these elements transform the zebra-striping concept from a playful idea in the book into a fully immersive environment.
The Habitat for Humanity auction piece features a mid-century chair crafted from natural jute cord and rich dark wood, creating a striking material contrast.
Additional partners and collaborators include: All the Bitter, Amass, Astek Wallcoverings, Barfly Mixology Gear, Branca USA, Borghetti, Buster + Punch, Desoi, Calirose Tequila, Dunn Edwards, Edible LA, Fever-Tree, JD Staron, La Colombe, Liquid Alchemist, Pennoyer Newman, Renne Cinman, and Stella Robinson Lightheart.
Photo by Oscar Mendoza @bosskie
Photo by Oscar Mendoza @bosskie
Cocktails left to right: The Pedro Pascal, The Lover, and Daddy!
Even the cocktails carried the vignette’s sense of mischief—Brightside dubbed them all after the internet’s reigning boyfriend, Pedro Pascal. As she mentioned in a recent article, her aim was to stretch the whimsy as far as it could go, sparking delight with every detail.