CAFÉ FORGOT

The Salon by NADA & The Community is an invitational art fair that took place Thursday, October 17th through Sunday, October 20th, 2024 in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. No Agency and Café Forgot export the energy of downtown NYC’s fashion scene curating a selection of sculptural works from Café Forgot’s roster of visual artists and designers.

If you missed us in Paris, you can view pieces from our installation here on: NADA’s website

On September 19 we launched our first ever collaboration with Marland Backus featuring a selection of arcade-coin inspired accessories. At the event, attendees could also participate in customization workshop adding personal photos to Marland Backus locket necklaces.

A NYFW party and event series with Dirty Magazine and Blip World (not your mother’s nicotine quitting brand).The event featured an outdoor news stand with issues of Dirty Magazine, The Whitney Review, and Petit Mort Magazine, as well as products from Blip, Plan B from Julie, and fentanyl test strips by new brand Overdrive Defense. At the opening on evening of 9/6 there was photography by the Cobrasnake, as well as a masterclass lineup of DJs including Princess Gollum and Donatella LeRoc. Over the weekend*The Whitney Review’s *editor Whitney Mallet took part in a reading series alongside speakers including actor Bobbi Salvör Menuez, writer Riley Mac, and trans activist/ author Veronica Vera.

A weekend long pop up with LA based Blondita, featuring her iconic sets polka dot and printed sets with a few items exclusive to CF.

On Friday July 12 Giami celebrated the release of her first ever swimwear collection composed of corsets, snake prints, and muted hues.

Campaign by Christian DeFonte.

Café Forgot collaborated with Hello Kitty on a capsule collection to celebrate Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary. Available exclusively at Nordstrom and on Sanrio’s website, the collaboration featured t-shirts, bike shorts, and ballet socks with Hello Kitty and her sister Mimi.

A party in honor of Ben Doctor’s Spring Summer 2024 runway collection entitled, “Rotten Goodbye.” In the words of Ben Doctor: “I’m saying goodbye to New York. Not really, hopefully, but what I mean is that I’m saying goodbye to what we all imagine New York to be, which can only exist in your head. It’s the New York you see while watching Sex and the City, where everyone is so chic and epic. And life is affordable. New York is full of experiences, some better than others, but there are plenty of rotten ones, and sometimes you just have to say goodbye.”

A springtime party with Lucky Jewel in celebration of their SS24 collection.

On February 13, we celebrated the launch of EMILYDAWNLONG’s couture capsule collection with a party and accompanying wall vinyl installation at Café Forgot. The event was sponsored by Ghia, Ruby, and Vivanterre.

On December 9, 2023 CAFÉ FORGOT and DOT hosted a holiday party featuring Dot’s curated collection of vintage glassware and handmade glass art. Sponsored by Body Vodka.

On Friday October 27 Café Forgot and Dirty Magazine hosted “Scream Queens” Halloween Party featuring a performance by ventriloquist, Sophie Becker. There was a spooky halloween-themed cake by Shannon Gorman and Narcan and Fentynl test strips giveaways provided by A$AP Foundation.

On July 26, Café Forgot launched a line of logo t-shirts. Each tee is screen-printed inside out on hand-sourced dead-stock vintage blanks with the CF logo on the front and the number 170 on the back. For Café Forgot founders, Vita Haas and Lucy Weisner, 170 is a magical number essential to the store’s founding in 2017. Logo tees are availabe to purchase here.

Campaign shot by Alex Hodor-Lee.

A summer party featuring a new collection of swimsuits from Patricia Torvalds and ice cream from creamy boys.

A launch party for Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen’s SS23 collection, Saturn Return featuring an installation by Zoe and Christian DeFonte and live cello accompaniment from Aliya Ultan.

A spring party featuring an exclusive collaboration by Kitten by Kate and Beepy Bella.

A party featuring a special collection by designer Timothy Gibbons.

On Thursday February 9 NYC-based, Taiwanese artist, Shawna Wu launched a new collection of lingerie and ready-to-wear at Café Forgot.

Shawna Wu’s work is informed by Chinese ancestral practices of knotting and artisanal textile-making. Her butterfly knot harnesses inspired by the Chinese myth of the butterfly lovers alongside hand-knotted and beaded lingerie sets, hand-knotted fringed ‘whip’ skirts and panel tops in baby pink and black were available for sale at the event.

Shawna Wu also debuted inclusive lingerie sets: matching bra and panties that come in both ‘flat’ and ‘pouch’ cuts. These inclusive lingerie sets aim to fill a gap in the market by catering to diverse bodies and are made sustainably from rare dead-stock lace.

Alongside the collection, Café Forgot displayed an interior wall-length billboard with Shawna Wu’s campaign imagery and a light installation by queer lighting collective Wildblur, best known for illuminating Brooklyn’s underground raves like the monthly sksksk and annual gay festival Honcho Campout. Poet Rachel Oyster Kim’s latest chapbook was available at the event.

A Sant’Elia holiday party at Café Forgot with an xxxclusive collection. Click here to shop.

Paige Kozak launched The Dinner Party Sticker Zine at Café Forgot. A portion of proceeds benefits the Sixth Street Community Center. Click here to shop the sticker zine.

About: An interactive sticker zine featuring contributions from an exquisite group of artists, brought (stuck?) together for a night of fine dining.

The Dinner Party invites you to indulge in 52 stickers from 16 artists, curating your dream soiree in 2D Technicolor.

Contributors: Barbara Saenz, B. Thom Stevenson, Brynn Wallner, Emily Sundberg, Fatou Ridgird, Janie Korn, Jeanette Hayes, Justin Hager, Kristine Reano-Hager, Laura Chautin, Nico Geyer, Rocco Arena, Sarah Reider, Shana Sadeghi-Ray, Steak Diane, Susan Korn

Summer in November. A weekend popup featuring exclusive pieces by the infamous LA duo, OGBFF.

A holiday 2022 collaboration with Nordstrom SPACE, featuring the work of 19 Café Forgot designers.

The collection is available to purchase at Nordstrom NYC (225 W 57th St, 3rd Fl) and online at nordstrom.com

A birthday celebration in honor of our one-year anniversary at 29 Ludlow St co-hosted with Pretties.

The opening party for Mara Mckevitt’s installation based in the speculative landscape of her film-in-progress “Boss Gives Employee Facial.”

Set in a futuristic ‘girls only’ apartment complex called Our Place, this erotic thriller follows employee, Liv Cameron (Ripley Soprano), the complex’s receptionist by day and cam-girl by night. Liv sells in-suite surveillance footage to afford her rent (like her fellow residents) and her own specialized content to earn an income. The conditions of her work-life are periodically managed by an HR bot (Bianca Perez). Unbeknownst to Liv, her boss and property manager, Lisa Landers (stand-in: Brynn Michaels) chooses her as a test subject for Our Place’s new experimental device. Liv undergoes beta-testing for X-link, a new biotechnological pleasure instrument, which allows users to experience other people’s orgasms. In Lisa’s prospective business plan, members buy, sell and trade orgasms, while [redacted]—a small class of people affluent enough to purchase unsurveilled, private time—are X-Link’s primary consumer. In navigating this not-so-distant reality, Liv comes to terms with the illusion of consent protecting an enduring nexus of labor, pleasure and identity.

The first collection of garments based on the film will be available at Café Forgot. Each variation: EMPLOYEE, RESIDENT, CONTENT, BOSS, MEMBER, and [REDACTED], refer to stratas of class and labor relations structuring the world of ‘Boss Gives Employee Facial.’

A spring party in collaboration with Zepherina. Live harp accompaniment by Nora Linde.

A reading at 6BC garden (624 E 6th St NYC) with Honor Levy, Gideon Jacobs, Jennifer Fisher, Rebekah Campbell, and Annie Hamilton.

Fashion show for cumgirl8 collection 2.

Celebratory collaboration with Heaven I Stay, a new shop for vintage designer clothing.

Dirty Magazine issue 2 release party with a narcan training and distribution by nurse and street medic, Syd Prescott.

On Thursday July 15 we hosted a celebration and reading from “VENUS JUICE: When I Tried To Live in LA” by author and healer, Luke Simon.

ABOUT VENUS JUICE:

VENUS JUICE takes readers on a neo-nostalgic trip into the LA wellness scene of the late 2010s, a land of luxury juice, natural healing, and digital hookups. On the surface the City of Angels seems to hold the keys to all that Luke seeks—love, creativity and how to make it as an Instagram healer. But is everything what it seems?

Known in wellness circles as a co-founder of the popular Maha Rose Center for Healing in Brooklyn, Simon’s story takes in themes of friendship, celebrity, queer romance, and the social media hustle that has come to color our experiences in the new millennium.

An incisive portrait and loving parody of a city where glossy facades often conceal darker hidden truths, VENUS JUICE is populated with a colorful cast of coaches, artists, hunks, healers, influencers, nighttime flowers, and health food connoisseurs. At the center of it all, we find one soul learning the meaning of self-love in our increasingly divided and digitized world.

Opening party June 16, 6–8 PM.

We are open by appointment two days per week on Thursday and Friday. To sign up for an appointment email info@cafeforgot.com.

Campaign by Monika Mogi with Marland Backus and Hanano Momose. Music by Tex Crick. Watch Here.

Click Here to Purchase. Eau de Parfum No 1 is developed in collaboration with Moscow based nose, Maria Golovina. Scent notes include pink peppercorn, dried rose, almond milk, and new stockings.

Click the link to download our digital book in collaboration with Pratt Fashion class of 2020. DOWNLOAD HERE

In this moment of unprecedented isolation, when connection and community tend to be mediated by a screen, Café Forgot presented a night of stories, poems, and essays mediated by a screen with Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Coco Gordon Moore, Gideon Jacobs, Rebekah Campbell, Stepahanie LaCava, and Yves B. Golden.

Café Forgot in collaboration with Jade Forrest Marks and Cara Marie Piazza hosted a series of virtual workshops focused on healing and catharsis during the time of COVID-19.

Workshops included:

FOUND FLORA SCULPTURES with Fleurotica, PYSCHOPHARMACOLOGICAL MEDITATIONS with Gideon Jacobs, EMBODIED MOVEMENT WORKSHOP with Marisa Hall, BODYSPELL: Somatic Plant Meditation + Improvised Movement Session with GOODWITCH, INTRO TO HARM REDUCTION with Ripley Soprano, HERBS + ELIXIRS FOR RELATIONSHIPS with Suanny Upegui of Casa Finca, EDIBLE BEAUTY: CONVERSATION + DEMONSTRATION OF SPRING MEDICINALS with Antonia Perez, and VIRTUAL REIKI SESSIONS with lily bo shapiro

In this virtual healing group, live on Zoom, Luke Simon led participants in a Breathwork journey to shake off restlessness and worry, and move forward with courage, creativity and trust.

Breathwork is an active meditation that takes you out of the mind and into feeling. The increased oxygen flow shifts your brain chemistry, helping old emotions to release and new understanding to dawn.

A guided journey to ground yourself and open your intuition. Connect to the essence of your style with prompts to uncover the colors, textures and looks your spirit is craving. Uniting intuition with appreciation for life, we receive new visions for ourselves and the planet. Guided by Luke Simon with music by Deta Factor & Matthewdavid

In light of the pandemic we wanted to share Cyrus Duff’s Untitled Café Forgot Documentary, which originally screened at Anthology Film Archives on February 24, 2020.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Photography: Tasmin Meyer Ersahin.

Models: Giannina Oteto, Kaia Jane Abraham, Ava Ferguson, Manon Macasaet, Lumia Nocito, Taylor Jeanne, Sadaf Nava, Dasha Nekrasova, Seashell Coker, Vera Bulder, Hannah Woldetsadik, Sabrina Fuentes, Kelly Zutrau.

Images co-produced with No Agency New York.

Side Effect has been postponed due to COVID-19. Stay tuned for updates. If you already purchased tickets you will be contacted via email regarding refunds. Take care + stay safe.

Designer Renea LaRiviere founded the concept for her line in 2018 as an ode to her Great Grandmother Zepherina. A combined influence of familial photographs, stories, and heirlooms constructed her character of Zepherina. This narrative is illustrated in her collection of limited-edition silhouettes, crafted with premium textiles and one-of-a-kind details for a mysterious-yet-sophisticated look. This March, for A Narrative Room, Renea will create an immersive installation of found furniture, art objects, and one-of-a-kind garments, featuring work by Claudia Cruz, Daisy Chains, and Ty & Calla. The result will be an enchanted space that the character Zepherina would inhabit.

Opening Party Mar 9 7—10 PM with a selection of natural wines by Berlin & Zev Rovine Selections.

On February 24th, 2020, Café Forgot and No Agency New York hosted an intimate test screening at Anthology Film Archives of Cyrus Duff’s unfinished documentary on Cafe’s inception and journey from ephemeral pop-ups to a long-term East Village lease. Duff’s documentary also covers the collaboration and conflict between Café Forgot and No Agency New York on a recent shoot.

RSVP ONLY — rsvp@noagency.nyc

8 PM, Monday, February 24

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES

32 2nd Ave New York NY 10003

Breathwork healing at Café Forgot (627 E 6th ST), lead by mystic, Luke Simon of Maha Rose addresses the energetic intensity of life in NYC. Breathwork is an active meditation that takes you out of the mind and into feeling. As you relax and let go, the increased oxygen flow rejuvenates your body and helps to open your heart.

Tickets

Photography: Christian DeFonte, Sasha Frolova.

Models: Yasmine Geurts, Vera Bulder, Christian DeFonte.

Larrie and Café Forgot were pleased to host a concert with True Blue, Eyeshadow, Personal Trainer, and Sadie.

Café Forgot founders Lucy Weisner and Vita Haas moderated a conversation between stylist Becky Akinyode and artist/designer Martina Cox. The discussion focused on the impact of limited edition and handmade clothing in their respective practices as well as utilizing second hand clothing as a visual and physical resource.

Marie Lea Lund is an artist and designer based in Berlin, Germany. Marie created an anonymous survey for Café Forgot’s month long residency at Larrie. Based on the chakra system, the survey is made to measure the balance of each of the seven main energy centers in the body. The final results of the survey will be treated as an indication of the overall health of the Café Forgot community. The results will act as a foundation for a collection by Marie, who is working with a methodology of integrating holistic and spiritual care to fashion objects. Stay tuned for the collection.

Photography: Christian DeFonte. Models: Laine Bolte, Paris Reid.

Photography: Christian DeFonte. Models: Venice W, Ada O’Higgins, Sadaf H. Naha, Blanche Apsara.

Photography: Allegra Sussman, Christian DeFonte. Models: Lila Gold, Maya Laner, Rosy Brown.

Photography: Sara Grace Powell, Allegra Sussman, Christian DeFonte. Models: Sara Grace Powell, Kat da Silva, Sabrina Fuentes, Daniela Lalita, Lulu Bonfils, Maggie Lee, Maia Ruth Lee.

Hosted by Jzuj – the collaborative cooking project of graphic designer Owen Dodd and chef Nicholas Sewitz, the wine bar spanned two evenings, providing a selection of snacks paired with natural wines. On the second night of the wine bar, opera soprano, Charlotte Jackson, provided live accompaniment, performing selected arias from the 17th-20th centuries.

Organized and curated in collaboration with friend and comedian Ruby McCollister, The Night You’ve Been Waiting For, featured performances by five comedic acts: Leah Hennessey and Emily Allan, Larry Owens, Peter Smith, Amy Zimmer, and Ruby McCollister.