Lucy Tiven“All good people love pussy,” says Franny Divine, the mind behind the Catnip Club, Hollywood’s newest monthly club night and first feline disco, which began this past Wednesday.
Divine, a self-identified “cat lady,” drew not only from her love of felines but also from parties in London, where she's from, and club sensations including Studio 54 and Berlin’s Berghain. The Catnip Club aims to cultivate a sense of community and femininity sometimes lacking in the city’s sprawling nightlife. Nestled at the Golden Box, behind the Supper Club, the Catnip Club’s darkly lit, sensual, feminine environs couldn’t be more different from the typically machismo DJ scene or nearby Hollywood club nights.
The party featured intermittent burlesque performances, plus dancing to disco, house favorites and remixes of “Heart of Glass” and “No Scrubs” spun by DJ EKO.
Many guests and hosts donned lingerie, and the atmosphere was hazy and wild, but it was distinctly safe — which, more than anything, lent a specifically feminist flavor to the evening’s festivities.
Possible Storms, Divine’s marketing agency, focuses on creating spaces and events where women can gather, meet and let their wild sides out. She's in the process of building a nonprofit platform for female artists in Los Angeles, as well as an entertainment website and app called Walk the Night.
Possible Storms’ diverse roster of events also hopes to encourage cross-pollination between after-hours parties and often-stodgy daytime networking events. It recently hosted a seminar called “How to Unleash the Woman Within: A Guide to Finding Your Inner Feminine While Working in a Man's World!”
Credit: Eric Charles
Still, Catnip Club membership is open to all – provided they’re willing to get in touch with the feline side of life. Though there weren’t any actual cats at the first event, the crowd looked purrfectly festive in kitty garb, face paint and leopard-print ensembles.
Franny Divine and the other ladies of Possible Storms wore many hats — or rather, ears — as they could be seen chatting with photographers or handling security one minute, and on the dance floor with burlesque performers and guests the next. (While L.A. Weekly was chatting with Franny before the event, we were paid an unexpected visit by local security, to which Franny answered with only a timid “meow” as the guards passed by and approached the bartenders.)
Though the event served alcohol, it palpably lacked typical long drink lines and crowded bar and smoking areas — most guests were dancing or excitedly watching live art performances, or even chatting about their kitties at home. Several attendees were swapping kitty pictures in the bathroom line.
Credit: Eric Charles
Proceeds from the event benefit the Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats, a local shelter that socializes feral cats and kittens to prepare them for their new lives as house and lap cats.
Divine volunteered with Kitty Bungalow when she first moved to Los Angeles, but didn’t have the time once she got her green card and her business took off. The themed party is a way to bridge the two.
With Wednesday night’s launch selling out 230 tickets and a 50-person wait-list, it seems she’s off to a pawesome start.
The Catnip Club takes place every third Wednesday. For more info visit facebook.com/catnipclub.
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