FEEL___ with Susanne Bartsch and UGG
Susanne has made it a point to live her life with her heart on her sleeve. Always fighting for the underdog she made it her mission to always make sure people were seen and loved for who they really were, not who they felt they needed to be. Check out office’s exclusive interview with Susanne below.
How are you?
I’m good!
So glad to be able to speak with you.
Me as well!
To jump right in, when did you first move to NY?
Around Valentines day in 1981. It wasn’t so much of a move tho as it was chasing romance. I came for love, I wasn’t planning on living here at all. I had been to New York before and didn’t really like it, but when I moved in 81 I ended up staying. He left— the romance left but I stayed. I fell in love with New York that time. I mean it’s hard not to fall in love with that city. Absolutely. I always love when I come from the airport, when you’ve been away for a long time and you being to drive towards the skyline.
It’s one of the best skylines in the world!
I feel like I start to get the energy of the city just by looking at the skyline.
It’s no secret that you are a known figure in New York City. When did you begin to get out onto the NYC party scene and make this name for yourself?
When I came to New York it was very Calvin Kline and very chic, but there was no real color to the city. I was living in London before and I was used to changing looks every week. It was the time of the New Romantics, everyone was experimenting with shapes, colors, textures. It was so amazing. Every Monday we would come back with a new look, it was so inspiring to see the new looks everyone would come up with.
When I came to New York City I said to my then lover, 'I miss that' and he said, 'why don’t you create the thing you miss?' And I said, 'why not!' So by April, I had found soho and at that time it was not the shopping place it was today, but I fell in love with the area. I found a little shop that reminded me of somewhere you would see in London. I saw a sign on the door and called the number and the man who owned the shop came and met me and gave me a deal on the space. I wanted to bring the fashion from England to New York, designers like Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, and Stephen Jones who weren’t yet that popular in New York. I reached out to the designers I knew back in London and they gave me pieces to sell in the store. I opened the store in September and I got a full page spread in the New York Times. Which at that time was unheard of. I really wanted to bring new and young designers into the spotlight with this store and it was so amazing to see how everyone loved the store once it was opened. I had all the big consignment stores coming in to my store, seeing the clothes, and going straight to London to get clothing from these designers.
When I saw people flocking to London I knew something was going to take off so in May of 1983 I decided I wanted to put on a big show. I had 18 designers come together and we put on a show at the Roxy. It was wild! It was such a mess because I had never done a show before, but it was this beautiful messy creation. We had no sound system so the music that was playing in the front was playing in the back and none of the designers could hear their names being called, I brought people Barney’s and saks so there were competing buyers, but this chaos made it the beautiful show that it was.
That sounds amazing!
It turned into a huge party basically.
Was that the unofficial start of your party series?
Not quite, so after that went so well I ended up opening a store on west Broadway in 1985, it was a beautiful store. I wanted that store to become a place where people could find these clothes and feel at home in the store and the clothes. Then I met this guy who had a little spot next to the Chelsea hotel, Savage, he had no liquor license, it was really like an old speak easy. Anyway, came to me and asked if I would host something there but I said no because he didn’t have a license. Then a year later he came back to me and said, ‘I have a liquor license now will you host something?’ And I said yes.
I wanted to move on from my fashion business at that time anyway so it seemed like the perfect moment. It started with an even on Tuesday nights, very high energy, bright lights, a huge dance floor and great music. It was very colorful and energetic and campy. That is the long version of how I got into the party scene. It really just came together at the right moment! Yes exactly. After Tuesday I began to do event on Wednesday as well. From there I began hosting nights at this old spot Bentleys and the owner of Bentleys introduced me to the owner of the Copacabana. I began to do these monthly events at the Copacabana that were huge. From 1987-1991 every month there would be people on the street, it was like Studio 54 level, always packed, everyone wanted to go. The Harlem house ball people would be there, it was Uptown, meets Harlem House Ball, meets Downtown.
It seems like it was a place for everyone!
Exactly! Gay, straight, queer. I wanted these events to be for everyone. Between these events I would travel and put on these great shows. I would invite everyone and i was basically just taking my parties with me wherever I went with these shows!
What were your shows like?
It was everything. It was fashion, meets opera, meets burlesque, meets vaudeville. It was just a huge mix of performance art. That’s what I do with my shows now, I get different companies to come out and help me. I’m still doing my parties, I have one every every Tuesday at the Boom Boom Room.
It’s amazing that you are still hosting these events. I feel like so much of the old New York club culture is hard to come by these days, you’re really keeping it alive.
One of the things that really kept me throwing these parties, and this may sound strange, but it was the AIDS crisis. You know, no one knew what AIDS was back then. I would visit friends in the hospital and have to wear hazmat suits, no one knew what it was or what it was going to do to people, it was horrendous.
That actually leads me into my next question, I am so curious to know more about the Love Ball event you would throw. It had such a lasting impact, what did the Love Ball mean for you?
I mean, I lost so many friends to AIDS. It was such a tragic time in the life of so many people I knew and one day someone asked my why I didn’t donate the proceeds from the Copacabana parties, why don’t I do something? So I decided to do something! I was thinking of all of the New York house balls, how amazing they were and the communities that were involved with them so I figured, why not put on a house ball to raise money.
People weren’t doing anything about it. Friends were dropping dead but this was one of the first big events that took place to raise money for AIDS, i threw one in 1989 and one in 1991. It was a combination of a House Ball and one of my fashion parities. I would get people to donate money to be on stage or have a table and people wanted to give! It was crazy to see how many people were signing up. No one got paid but everyone was more than happy to work for free. The Love Ball was about celebrating life and celebrating the people we lost but also the people we still had.
That must have been so powerful back then. I feel like your events really embody what the Feel campaign is all about, that passion and love of other purple. I am interested to know at this point in time, what fuels you, what makes you want to continue to do these events?
UGG is such an iconic product. To be able to partner with a brand that has worked with so many iconic people and has such a strong message has really been an amazing experience. It’s a real honor to be able to work with them and I really also just love the product. The thing that drives me in this life is to give, celebrate, and give a platform to people who otherwise might not have one. To celebrate people who express themselves freely and with love.
I am so excited for the campaign to come out. We filmed the entire campaign at my house which was really important to me. To have the team come into my home and be able to show people what my inner world looks like was very important to me. For me it’s about embracing change and inspiring people to lead a life of love and acceptance. I am an artists and an activist and I really try and use my body as my canvas. I use my body to get my set across to as many people as I can! I have always worn many hats and I think that’s something that also drew me in to working with UGG. I have always wanted to live a life that was about accepting and inspiring people to love one another.
I must say, given your history it seems as though something you have always been able to do is inspire people and bring people together out of love. Through your life you have been able to inspire people to be themselves without fear. I am so excited to see the full campaign!
Yes I can’t wait to hear what you think! I want to inspire people and make them feel good. I want to bring people together and make them feel the same love that I feel. There is nothing better than bringing people together and making them feel good about being themselves. It’s important that people remember that it’s okay to do whatever you want to do as long as you’re not hurting anybody.
Well thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me.
Oh it was my pleasure, thank you!