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Rents are low, desire to shop is high and, now, another independent store is entering the fray with prime locations. Café Forgot, a rising NYC indie boutique known for its mix of the best designers, will open its first permanent location tomorrow at 29 Ludlow Street — in the heart of the Chinatown corridor often referred to as “Dimes Square. ”
The store was founded by Lucy Weisner and Vita Haas in 2017 as a traveling pop-up concept reminiscent of their childhood boutique in downtown New York City. The festivities ensued, and in November 2019 they took a temporary one-year lease on the East Village and launched a web store soon after the pandemic hit — which gave them access to audiences outside of NYC’s alternative social circle.
With their new location, the duo has grown up — building a sophisticated space that showcases clothing in a gallery-like setting. A revolving shelf hidden in one of the store walls acts like a dry cleaner — minimizing visual clutter by showing only a portion of the store’s stock at a time. It is framed by a full wall sticker designed in collaboration with artist Maggie Lee. The vinyl gets replaced every few months, making the installation something of an artsy version of the much-loved wardrobe from the cult ’90s comedy, “Clueless.”
“I think we have stepped in a more mature direction. We have tried to avoid being very trend-oriented and wanted to design a space where we could create and experiment with different parameters,” said Weisner.
The store has proven a gateway for indie labels like Marland Backus, Sherris and Blobb (whose rings the duo can’t keep) to a wider reputation. They formed the financial basis for the store’s success — allowing Weisner and Haas to sell more styles of outrés that were harder to sell. “We like getting stuff into the store to sell and then being able to keep other things that may be more extreme in some ways but are very valuable here,” Weisner said.
Their new shop is located in the Chinatown quadrant which over the past decade has transformed from an unusual place for skaters and artist types to an ironic town square that is ridiculed and glorified by certain. -seen by many people. Although dubbed Dimes, a health food cafe with Memphis-inspired interiors, the area is now teeming with small boutiques — like those created by Sandy Liang, Bode, and homeware concept stores Beverly’s and Coming Soon.
“It’s absolutely insane,” Haas said of the sights in the area, which have stirred anxiety in dismayed visitors by the pandemic as soon as they disembark from a nearby East Broadway subway stop.
Haas himself was nervous. “I feel personally it’s great. Sometimes I feel like I have to re-socialize, but it’s nice being someone who loves fashion that I can say, ‘Okay, sometimes I don’t remember how it was to be at a party but I always remember how to talk about clothes.’ This is my safe haven.”
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