Suzy Menkes: 10 Secrets about her!

The stark difference between Americans and Brits was never so evident as last night when Fern Mallis interviewed Suzy Menkes at 92Y as part of her Fashion Icons series. Questions like, "Your father died in the war before you were born. What was the most important thing your Mother wanted you to know about him as a man?" were answered in the classic English style: "She didn't. It was never discussed. It was a different time, and I suppose it taught us resilience." But it wasn't all stiff upper lip. The two hour conversation spanned everything from hilarious battle stories of her early days as a reporter sneaking into shows, to her views on the recent tragedy in Bangladesh, and the hardest reviews she's ever had to write. The big takeaway for me was her work ethic and continued enthusiasm despite 40 years on the job, not to mention her insane output (she writes something like 300,000 words per year for The International Herald Tribune). Suzy Menkes is one of the last of a dying breed, and with dwindling newspaper budgets, the growth of online self-publishing, not to mention the narcissism of this generation of ours, I can't imagine we'll see too many more of her kind who refuse gifts, junkets and the seductive offer of friendships with designers.  The top 10 things you never knew about Suzy Menkes.

1. The first fashion show Suzy Menkes ever crashed was a must-see Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe collection held in Paris in the late 1960s. Not having an invitation, Menkes and a friend bought brooms and buckets at a hardware store, tied rags around their heads, and showed up at the venue at 5:00 the morning of, posing as cleaners. They hid under the stage for four hours until guests started arriving, then ditched the mops and rags and wandered out to catch the show. The perfect crime.         

2. Suzy Menkes published her first fashion newspaper at the age of five – a one-time-only affair that her mother still owns to this day – but her first big scoop was an expose about Marianne Faithfull publicly smoking hash at Cambridge University. The story was picked up by all the major British tabloids, and no doubt gave Ms Menkes an addictive taste of her future life as a journalist.

3. In her 20s, Suzy Menkes was head-hunted by Charles Wintour (father of Anna) to write about fashion for the London Evening Standard, which caused a skirmish among other journalists at the time who thought she was too young and didn't deserve the promotion. "He was a wonderful editor with a dry manner – definitely his daughter's father – I actually went to Anna's 21st birthday party, so I've known her for a very long time!"

4. Suzy Menkes converted to Judaism after her marriage, and since then has refused to attend fashion shows or events held on Jewish Holy Days. In an industry that features many prominent Jewish members, she said she's often felt let down that other people who could have supported her on this matter never did. Fern Mallis, who launched New York Fashion Week (and scores of others around the world), said that if they ever could, they would reschedule events just so that Menkes could attend.
5. It's well known that Suzy Menkes does not accept gifts or fraternise too closely with designers, but this was still fascinating, considering how few people could honestly say this next sentence: "In all these 40 years I have never spent a night under a designer's roof. You can't get cosy with them. I never went on Valentino's boat even though I was asked... But I don't really have the bikini body for it anyway."
6. The worst part about Suzy Menkes' job? Writing reviews when she knows that a talented designer is losing it, or has suffered in their personal life. "Most artists have a finite time in their career, and when you can see the deterioration of their talent, that's a hard review to write. It's also very hard when you know a designer has had a tragedy in their lives – if someone has lost their partner to AIDs you don't go and stick the knife in." Designers are notoriously sensitive and do take exception to her reviews, but she believes that they, too, have a right to an opinion on her opinions. "I'm a journalist and they're an artist. They can say whatever they like to me and I'll take it quietly."

7. Despite popular opinion, Suzy Menkes did not visit a hairdresser and request that he or she invent a style that would become iconic over the years. The reason for the pompadour is simple: "I hated my hair all in my face when I was writing a story."
8. Suzy Menkes believes that everything you need to know about a city's culture can be gleaned from the taxi drivers. "In London cabbies care about sport, in New York cabbies care how far you're going, and in Paris they ask you how John Galliano's doing at Dior."
9. On the topic of the recent tragedy where a building collapsed, killing more than 400 fashion outworkers in Bangladesh, Suzy Menkes said that companies pulling their manufacturing in the wake of the accident would do more harm than good. "Fashion can be a wonderful way to get people out of poverty... It's not just about the manufacturers putting money into safer practices, it's about the consumer – we need to realise that it's morally wrong to buy a bikini for the same price as a cappuccino." On the flipside, she does not believe in spending outrageous amounts of money on fashion. "I wouldn't pay 6000 dollars for a handbag even if I could afford it. It just seems out of synch with life."

10. And finally, no, the luxury CEOs did not go to Suzy Menkes to ask who she thought should take over at YSL and Dior. "Tragically none of those big bosses ever come to me to ask my opinion, I'm sure they go to Anna Wintour, but they probably don't come to me because I'd tell them what I really thought."

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