Adriana Mendoza’s Pop-Up Femme Fatale DC Becomes a Brick-and-Mortar in Cleveland Park

We caught up with Femme Fatale DC’s Adriana Mendoza to talk business transformations, D.C as inspiration and favorite memories at creative events.

Walk into Femme Fatale DC, and you’ll feel welcome. This atmosphere is due to all the people who make the hub possible, but Adriana Mendoza’s vision as creative director led the charge. She co-created Femme Fatale as a hub for womxn and nonbinary creatives, entrepreneurs and organizers to connect and create together. Read on to learn more.

District Fray: How has Femme Fatale morphed since including a brick-and-mortar space?
Mendoza: We’ve always been a pop-up; that has always been our model of activating spaces. We would have these ideas, but those visions could never be achieved because we were always getting ready for the next pop-up. But now we have been in Cleveland Park since 2021 and were able to purchase the building recently. So that means it’s Black, Latina and queer-owned — the first in Cleveland Park. There’s finally stability to begin activating the larger ideas we’ve had for Femme Fatale, like becoming a formal incubator for entrepreneurs and creatives, and thinking about how we can expand our offerings. We’ve planted the seeds years ago. Now we get to harvest what we’ve sowed.

Where do you go in D.C. when you need inspiration?
One of my favorite places is Meridian Hill Park on Sundays, when the drum circle is there. It’s a reminder of what it really means to be human, like the best version of humankind. I like to put myself into spaces to remind myself of what it looks like when people can express themselves. Their walls are down and they’re vulnerable. They’re being the best version of themselves, because they don’t have those restrictions. That is what I have always envisioned when people gather at our events. 

What is one of your favorite memories of gathering womxn in D.C.?
It’s just been so many years; I cannot pick one. But there is an underlying energy that threads together. We’re talking about thousands of events, thousands of gatherings in six years. But I love that people who gather in our space really do feel very welcomed. If two people come by themselves, they can find each other and start talking. I often feel like an outsider, and I don’t like feeling that way. So, I want to create spaces that allow you to be yourself and be vulnerable.

Join Femme Fatale at Black Cat on September 23 for a preloved market full of fashion and style. Learn more at femmefataledc.com and follow them on Instagram @femmefataledc.

Femme Fatale DC: 3409 Connecticut Ave. NW, DC

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Abi Newhouse