interview by Nicky London
Interview with Susanne Bartsch
I have been attending Susanne’s events and parties since 1988. This was the first time I ever got to sit down and talk with her.
by Nicky London - N.Y.C - 2/27/04
SB: Oh that was a great time. Every week there was a new look and I found it so inspiring. I attended the Blitz nightclub. I came to New York for a love affair for a boyfriend and I stayed awhile. At that time in New York the looks people had were so uninspiring. If you had a flower in your hair you were considered done-up. I would go out with all of my gear on and people would take picture all over the place. I got a lot of attention and then I opened my store in the fall of 1981. It got picked up by the press and that changed the climate of people dressing up. A year later when I went out no one would even look at me, there were so many people dressing up. People started expressing themselves through their clothing. The kids started becoming very colorful, I’ve always admired that, like Kenny Kenny. He is a genius in that way. It’s like an artist would do with painting and singing except these people do it with clothing and makeup. By the time I really got going promoting my party it was in full force. Now of course New York has gone bourgeois again, and I hate it. People are all about reality shows and American Idol. (Pulling out a poster Susanne shows me) and says this is Trojan, he was beautiful.
NL: Funny, that’s how I got introduced to Nicola Bowery. At the time I was helping Maripol and she had just done a book about her Polaroids. In the book there was a Polaroid of Trojan. I told Maripol that I had met Leigh Bowery at the Limelight. Leigh Bowery and Trojan were partners at one time and she told me to give the book to Leigh Bowery. He sent Nicola and Pearl to my apartment to collect the book and have dinner with me.
SB: Oh, really! By September of 1982 I got really freaked out because everyone was doing what I was, like my clothing store. People were going crazy, they started buying up all of these lines like what I was having. Body Map, Rachel Alburn, John Galliano, Leigh Bowery to name a few. So then I was threatened because Saks and Barney’s started carrying all of these types of clothes. I then became the representative for these designers lines, their agent. I put on a fashion show called New London in New York at the Roxy in 1983. So then later because I had the type of business that was geared to the club with people dressing up my clients had nowhere to go. There was only Nell’s with a little dance floor and french fries or there was Track’s where there were men taking off their shirts and it is very dark. I wanted to create somewhere people could go to show off their finery that they would buy from my shop. At that time they were building this club on 23rd Street called Savage, a 1970’s style club created in 1986. I grew up in Switzerland and there I experienced my first one-off, when I was 15. They had the one-off in the 1960’s and I remember those. I was also inspired by the one-offs in London like Taboo. So that’s how I created my parties to promote my clothing at my shop. It was about high energy, bright lights and flirting at the time people wanted that. I left the fashion business and started doing the clubs more.
NL: And by that time Paper magazine had dubbed you, the Queen of Clubs and you were getting lots of press. Why has no one done a film or book about you?
SB: I think because I don’t really give a shit about it. I did, though, have a book deal with William Morris at one time but it never evolved. HBO wanted to do this drag thing with me and it worked really well. They wanted to make it into a feature but the director had a problem and I was over it by then.
NL: I think you should do a book deal or a reality show because after I saw Party Monster I thought it was a very negative story yet it received so much hype and attention.
SB: Exactly! You have to either kill somebody or do something bad. When you’re good and your old school that does not do anything for you. Even when you are talented it doesn’t mean shit in America. The stuff that American’s go for is stuff that is right up in your face and that’s sad.
NL: I agree, that period of time I have really fond memories of. I remember the great things that happened. I felt like that movie just emphasized the negativity. The untold story is YOUR story. You are the Queen of Clubs. You created that scene in New York. I think Michael Allig was a follower and should not have been dubbed the King of Clubs.
SB: Well, at the end of the day it was a drug scene but it does take all kinds to create this. I’m against drugs and I only have a couple of beers when I am out. I am not judgmental and don’t want to tell people what to do but I think with Michael Allig’s scene it was all about getting high.
NL: Also, the people you choose for your parties as entertainment are always so incredible.
SB: Well I think the one thing I am able to give people at my parties is when I like someone’s work I don’t interfere. They have the stage that they deserve and allow them to perform. I am not controlling and give them the space to be creative. People know that I really care and I don’t do it for the money. Yes I have to pay my rent but it is not my main motivation. I will never sell out like these tacky parties just to make money.
NL: You seem to have always been a mother type figure.
SB: Yes, I am kind of like the surrogate mother. Most of these people I know have left unhappy homes to come to New York so they could be what they wanted to be. That is where I meet up with them and we realize we are what we are and connect like a family. I like that role.
NL: Today, has your recipe changed for the parties?
SB: I’ve had a revelation that the old school thing is not appreciated any more. At the Delano when I would do the parties we would decorate the trees and now I am only decorating half the trees. It’s like someone told me in an expression, “I don’t want to give blood any more”. I still care but I’ve simplified because I realize people don’t really care. I don’t want to charge my friends. I would like to not charge at the door any more and have a sponsor instead. Being a mother has changed me. I like to wake up when my son gets up at 7 and take him to school. I like to cook dinner for him. So if I am out till 3 in the morning I can’t really do this for him. I still love dressing up but I want to be there for my son.
NL: If Susanne Bartsch can’t attend her own parties, will she hand over the reins to someone else?
SB: No, if I think I can’t go I will move on. I continue to do events and I am still very busy. If I could get it together I would like to do another Love Ball for charity, something for a good cause.