“I feel like I’m watching a movie about someone’s life, and I keep having to tell myself it’s mine. And this movie is fucking fabulous.”
Mickey thanked a packed room of partygoers from the stage at Hubertus and Simona von Hohenlohe’s home in Madrid, where over seventy of his closest friends — and, in true Mickey fashion, dozens of people he’d met once and casually invited to Spain — gathered to celebrate his sixtieth birthday. It was a party weekend fitting for an icon.
Mickey is an institution in New York media, having helped lead PAPER through four decades of transformation. He’s a fashion legend who wore an Ashish top and pants and Valentino shoes to his party (courtesy of iconic retailer Ikram Goldman, who also hosted a lunch for him). Earlier in the day, he wore a Lanvin top gifted by Peter Copping, Lanvin’s artistic director, who was also in attendance. And he’s a humble Midwesterner at heart, born and raised in Illinois before moving to New York. Mickey picked Madrid for his party because he studied abroad there from 1987 to 1988, and in a testament to the endurance of his friendships, the three friends he went abroad with — now living in California, Illinois, and Virginia — all made the trip.
I met Mickey at New York Fashion Week in 2012. The connection led me to write my first profile for PAPER later that year, and after I filed it, he told me it was “well-written but a little boring.” It’s the sort of kind but direct feedback his friends have come to rely on over the years. When he believes in someone’s ability to be better, or even great, he pushes them. Marjorie Gubelman, known by many as DJ Mad Marj, credits Mickey with pushing her to become a DJ, a career that has since taken her from college basements to royal weddings.
Over meals and cocktails, friends who made the trip from all over the world, some for only 24 hours, shared the ways in which Mickey made their lives better. “I’m in the business of making dreams come true,” he often says. Sometimes that just means introducing you to a reality star you’re ambushed by when she’s sitting a few tables over at Indochine. “Mickey, darling!”
My friendship with Mickey deepened when I spent 48 hours shadowing him to write a profile for a gay men’s magazine called Hello Mr. In spending two days with him at parties and over meals, I saw an ability to connect with people that is rooted in genuine curiosity and overflowing empathy. Mickey would say this is because he’s a Libra, ruled by Venus, and has a deep desire for harmony. But it’s because he’s a good person. So many stories from Mickey’s birthday weekend reflect that.
Fellow icon Baby Lynn Yaeger shared a story about Mickey that always makes her cry. Mickey and Lynn walked into a crowded, snobby fashion party where two girls in a corner clearly didn’t know anyone and looked so uncomfortable they were about to cry. Mickey, without even thinking, walked over to them and said, “The fun kids are here! Hi girls, are you having fun?” Only Mickey would do that, Lynn said. In a fashion crowd, people too often overlook those who don’t look cool or aren’t dressed cool. Mickey saw two girls who needed a friend. “I think that story makes me cry,” Lynn said, “because I’m those girls.”
Amid all the heartwarming praise, there was even more revelry. At Mickey’s party, Spanish royalty (guest names withheld because it’s not posh to name-drop) commingled with reality stars, stylists, writers, and regular people like me. Waiters passed around tapas and ensured champagne glasses stayed full — sparkling water for Mickey. “The waiters are hot,” he texted me before the party started. Nearly forty years in media have given him an impeccable eye for detail.
Host Hubertus von Hohenlohe, a photographer, former Olympic skier, and Spanish pop star, dedicated the first song of the night, “I Want Pop,” to Mickey, whom he called “the embodiment of New York and of pop.” Mickey’s friend Laura Wills, who was in the audience, texted the clip to her friend Cyndi Lauper, who raved about the performance and wished Mickey a happy birthday. (Some name-dropping is necessary to show the expansiveness and depth of Mickey’s circle!)
And while I’m name-dropping, Marc Jacobs, whom I connected with for this story, said, “Mickey is an icon. He’s a constant in New York fashion, which is rare these days.” Then he added, simply, “I love Mickey.”
While messaging with Mickey’s close friend Mindy Cohn, she shared a video of the two of them twirling on the streets of New York and told me he is the embodiment of joy. “No one has made me feel the joy of being a creative more than my dearest darling Mickey.”
Mickey might have felt like he was watching a movie of someone else’s life. But for the hundreds of people whose lives he’s touched, the most fabulous thing about that movie is that he has given all of us speaking parts.
Happy birthday, Mickey!
