Susanne Bartsch Is Still On Top

It’s hard to imagine anyone who better represents the creative magic of New York City than Susanne Bartsch. Born in Switzerland, she came to New York in 1981 and quickly made a name in the fashion and retail scenes with two eponymous boutiques that showcased the best new designers from London. It was while putting on a fashion show that she realized she was brilliant at bringing people together and creating events. Since the ‘80s, any discussion of the hottest, most celebrated party hosts has included Bartsch. That’s a long time to be at the top of your field. Earlier this year, she released Susanne Bartsch Presents: Bartschland: Tales of New York City Nightlife, a lavishly illustrated history of her adventures in the Naked City. It’s a must-read for all lovers of New York, not just club-hoppers. It features an introduction by her friend and former party employee RuPaul.

We caught up with Bartsch to chat about 1984 — the year PAPER was born and Bartsch was already a downtown star. She went on to grace the cover of PAPER four times.

I know Bill Cunningham called you Swiss Miss, and you've said that your whole life has been a reaction against Switzerland, but is there any part of you that you feel like is very Swiss?

I can't point out anything that's very Swiss, but I'm concerned about, when someone comes over to visit, how the house looks. I always say, “Swiss foreplay is vacuuming.” I'm getting better at it, but I say, "No, they can't come over, the place looks like a mess." So that's, I think, a very Swiss thing. I don't know, actually, maybe that's not a Swiss thing. But cleaning up, looking organized. I'm an organized mess. Also, it’s very important for me to be in charge of my own time.

Do you remember what was going on with you in 1984?

I came to New York in '81. But I know exactly what I was doing in '84. It was a big time for me. I came for love, and I fell in love with New York. And I missed the constantly changing looks of London, and I said, "Why not import what you miss?" And I ended up in the fashion business down there in SoHo, I mean, '84, by that time, I had my store in SoHo. I had all these English designers, and England wasn't that happening with the fashion crowd. The NY buyers were not going there from America.

I remember the fashion houses from London contacting me, saying, “We want to help you, you're helping us get attention to the fashion in London.” When I was starting out with a fashion show, “New London and New York,” it was really to protect my product. These department stores have so much money, I'm just going to get lost in these shops, so why not go over there and sign all the young designers up?

That was all around that time. And then also, the show, the New London and New York show, that was at the Limelight in '84. It was so successful that a Japanese company asked me to do the whole thing in Tokyo. So I brought over 50 designers to Tokyo. So that's all that was happening in '84, I was heavily in the fashion world, introducing Westwood, Galliano, Stephen Jones. I already was doing it in '81, but right away after they opened, it got a lot of attention, and by '83, I was like, I'm going to get lost here. So that's when I started doing shows.

So tell me about the store. Was it on Thompson Street?

The '84 store was on Thompson Street, and that's another thing, in '84, Stephen Greenberg, I don't know if you remember him? The white-haired guy?

I do remember him. He owned Gramercy Hill Park Hotel.

Yeah, and he owns the Roxy Roller Rink. He was very supportive of me, and he backed me to open up a store on West Broadway. Because I was on Thompson Street, and it became too small, and I wanted to show more. Thompson Street was very much about accessories, and unisex clothing, one-size clothing, so we didn't have that much space. That's in '85; the store on West Broadway opened in May of '85. And it was next to Robert Lee Morris, it was these two identical stores. There were like upstairs, and downstairs, two floors, and it was an amazing thing.

Fabulous.

It was absolutely stunning. If we had Instagram then, and social media, then I probably would have a billion followers. It was so exciting, so new, I really invented something. And that whole street fashion movement came out of what I was doing on Thompson Street with these English designers, like Judy Blame.

The first show — I don’t know how I ever did it — was at The Roxy Roller Rink, I had no idea what I was doing. I sat the enemies next to each other. It was chaos. I didn't know what I was doing. But I had a double line around the block, it was so huge. People were so excited, there was such a buzz. You know when you have an idea, it's within you, and then you make it happen, it's the most amazing thing, and that's when I first got a taste of bringing people together. Because I wasn't doing any events then. It was more like the service business. It was an amazing feeling to see all these people, and the joy, and the excitement on their faces.

And that's where I got addicted to bringing people together. That moment, I'll never forget it.

Do you think there's something special about New York, that different kinds of people mix? Or do you think it can work anywhere, that kind of thing you do?

New York is definitely very supportive. It's also a city of PR. The way the city was then, it was more artist-geared, and now it's a city of real estate, accountants and lawyers. The cool people now work in Manhattan. New Yorkers are very supportive. There's a saying that I love, which is like, “Every Monday there's a million dollar deal in New York. Come Friday it's fallen through, but there's always another Monday.” New York, there's just such opportunity here. You can literally make anything happen.

Just looking through the book, I saw pictures of a few people, or mentions of a few people, I just wanted to ask you your thoughts on them for the story. Talk to me about RuPaul.

RuPaul is such an amazing, incredible, charismatic, talented person. When I set eyes on him, I'll never forget those legs, and he's so witty, and good with talking, and he knows just what to say at the right moment. I looked at him, and I said, “You're a star.” He said he was a pop star. I said, “No, you're a star.” I guess, at that time, he wanted to be a musician. He had a band, he wanted to be a pop star. He's much more than a pop star.

Ru was just such a positive addition to any events I had. And I could see the talent. And then I asked him to MC my Copacabana monthly... Every month I had a Miss June, Miss July, Miss August. I had a monthly competition, and Ru was MC'ing. He says, now, that he learned how to MC through my events.

I love it. What about Thierry Mugler?

We met, and we clicked. When he came to the Copa, Thierry said to Joey Arias, “Who is that woman?” So he introduced him to me. We just clicked. We just had the same energy, the same temperature, and I just loved everything. Already, I knew his designs (I didn't know him), and I was already a huge fan.

He's just pure theater. He was like an operatic thing. Everything he did was like an opera to me, and he was just so incredibly talented. So we clicked, and we became really good friends, and he made my wedding outfit, with two week’s notice over the phone. The veil was an egg — giving birth to something new — and the bouquet was on my head, and he was best man with RuPaul and David.

I was at the wedding. It was gorgeous.

He's just been a really amazing friend, and inspiration. And I think I inspired him too.u and Zaldy, too, was one of those magical marriages that came organically. I met Zaldy, immediately fell in love with him, he's so gorgeous and clever and talented, and his persona is just so beautiful. I was hiring him to do hosting at The Copa, and he had this new boyfriend, Mathu. Mathu was this genius, this renaissance man who could do anything. And we just started to collaborate, they started to do all my invites.

We had this collaboration going on for quite a while, for a few years. I lived on the seventh floor, and they were on the third floor of the Chelsea Hotel. So, it was really upstairs, downstairs, we had an amazing time, and that really helped me grow because they just got me, and they understood what I am and how to make it work. I'll value it forever.

What about Bill Cunningham?

Bill was a charmer. What a gorgeous person. He said to me one day, “Susanne you're a giver.” I said, “Well, it takes one to know one, you're a giver actually.”

He saw me at a David Hockney opera opening. David Hockney did the Lincoln center Opera, and he was doing the set. It was in '81 and I went to that. He was there, and I was all done up head-to-toe, and he saw me like, “Wow, who are you? Where are you from'?, and I said, 'I'm from Switzerland, I'm just here for a —” He called me “The Swiss Miss” and that stuck.

He would come running along when I had events to take pictures, not necessarily for the Times, just for himself, because he just loves the energy of the young people, of the kids. He called us all “the kids.” I'm sure he called you a kid, too.

He did! What about Leigh Bowery?

Leigh Bowery, another incredible talent, and just a beautiful person. I met him in London on the scene, and then I loved his work, I loved everything. He had such a sharp wit, and he was so funny, and so much fun to be around. I met him before he did his art looks. He was already art all along, but his looks were more abstract. Do you remember, I'm sure you saw the Picasso faces. He was an amazing artist who unfortunately passed away very young.

Andre Walker.

He used to come every day [to the store]. His mother used to call my store and say, “Is Andre there?” He would every day after school, and hang out in the store, he was just mesmerized by it all. He said he got his education at my store, on Thompson Street.

Finally, what about Marc Jacobs?

Marc Jacobs was one of the first people I bought knitwear from. He was doing knitwear, and he was still at college. Was he at Parsons?

Parsons, yes.

And we were buying knitwear from him. So very early, I was selling it in my West Broadway store. And he's just a brilliant designer. Great friend, really. He's always supporting, and a lovely man, lovely person, and doesn't seem to be impressed by everything. He's still Marc.

I love it. And my final question is, do you own any sweatpants?

I have two pairs. Zaldy was doing the Gwen Stefani line, it's called L.A.M.B. I have some from that. And then the cashmere sweatpants. In the daytime, I'm not that done-up anymore, I used to be much more, but now I like a pair of jeans. I give it my all when I do a look, and then in the daytime, I run around in jeans a lot.

Photography: Mark Minton