Susanne Bartsch

Susanne Bartsch is a Swiss event producer, living in the United States, whose monthly parties at the Copacabana in late-1980s New York City united the haute and demi-monde, making her an icon of New York nightlife. "Ms. Bartsch's name," according to The New York Times, "is the night life equivalent of a couture label, thanks to the numerous extravaganzas she staged in cities from Montreal to Miami."^[1]

Born in Bern, Switzerland, Bartsch left her family as a teenager and moved to London in the late 1970s, where she became an intimate of such celebrities as Jimmy Page and Malcolm McLaren. After moving to New York City in the early 1980s, she opened a clothing boutique in SoHo that gave exposure to new British names, designers and labels, including Vivienne Westwood, Leigh Bowery, BodyMap, John Galliano, and milliner Stephen Jones.^[2] She also helped launch the careers of young American designers Alpana Bawa and Michael Leva, and was a precursor and influence upon the Club Kids movement of the time.

By the late 1980s, the American economy was slowing, and "edgy" clothing was becoming harder to sell; Bartsch began organizing weekly parties at prominent New York nightclubs, such as Savage, Bentley's, and, finally, the Copacabana. Bartsch created the Love Ball in 1989, which raised US $400,000 (approx. $994k in 2024) to fight HIV and AIDS.^[3] For the first time, elements of Harlem ball culture were introduced to a national audience.^{[citation needed]}

Bartsch took part in philanthropic work, running annual holiday toy-drives with her partner, David Barton, whom she married in 1995 (div. 2010).^[4] The couple have a son, Bailey Bartsch Barton.^[4]

In 2015, The Museum at FIT mounted an exhibit celebrating Bartsch's costumes.^[5]

• Susanne Bartsch: On Top (2017)
• RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2019; season 4, Guest judge)

• "Susanne Bartsch & Dr. Valerie Steele in Conversation" from Archive on Demand
• Article 2018 (German)