Office Launches Issue 20 at WSA
office teamed up with our good friends at PUMA to crowd out the WSA building in the city’s Financial District. Lauded by many as one of the best parties since 2019, it was a night free of hesitation, filled with dancing, drinking, gossiping, and a lot of reminiscing. Partygoers such as office people feature Sophia Wilson and partner, Strada Gallery's own, Paul Hill probed memories of the now-extinct China Chalet, a sentiment that many echoed as they passed from the dance floor to the crowded smoking room.
She mused, "It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so it makes sense." A party in the Financial District? Such a trek was rare since the closure of the beloved dim sun restaurant and late-night clubhouse in 2020. There's something about partying in what seems like an abandoned venue that turns it into a sort of middle-ground; many attendees forgot we were on the 30th floor or even in New York, in that case.
During a brief break in the smoking room, I ran into Ashley Hood. She mentioned that everyone was raving about how New York the party was, but for her, it felt like a kickback in Paris. To Daisaku Hidaka and Kei Tsura, it evoked memories of the underground raves they got used to attending in Japan.
Las Flaquitas kicked off the evening with iconic throwbacks that eased guests into the night's standout performance: a surprise appearance by Amaarae alongside DJ Vonnie Mack whose set was a favorite of the night. Positioned around a carpeted bar beside a live fish tank, revelers danced skin to skin, moving to some of the cover star's hit songs. The energy was so infectious that not dancing felt like taking up too much space. It was raunchy, it was loud, it was intrinsically New York — a sticky, sweaty, sexy melting pot.
And at a point in the night when we wondered if things could get cuntier, Demiyah of Angelito Collective, transported us from the Financial District to a basement in Brooklyn through her entrancing DJ set. Surrounded by her fellow collaborators behind the DJ booth, the atmosphere was electric, and by then, it didn't matter where we were: China Chalet in 2017, Paris, Japan, or whatever purgatory in between — everyone was on their feet dancing the night away.
