Fashion’s great and good — from powerhouse designers Michael Kors, Sarah Burton and Andreas Kronthaler to high profile figures Jasper Conran, Laudomia Pucci and Bella Freud — gathered at Dover Street Market to toast legendary fashion journalist Suzy Menkes’ 80th birthday. Her first job, at 24, was at the London Evening Standard.
“I started my career at the Evening Standard — that’s when I first met Anna [Wintour] when she was too scared to dance,” she said. “I’ve been lucky to have a front row seat — mind you I’ve deserved it — from my time there in my 20s, to Vogue in my 70s.”
In a career spanning almost six decades, Menkes has carved her place as an authority in fashion reporting. She became best known during her voracious 25 year tenure at The International Herald Tribune, which she left in 2014.
“I have written millions, maybe trillions, of words for public consumption, but only my family knows — I have written thousands more in my private and secret diaries,” Menkes revealed during her speech at the dinner, which saw tables decked with Don Julio 1942 tequila, and attendees entertained by a Disneyland-esque caricature of the writer — famous quiff included. “This is something I to look forward to [publishing]. Sometimes I had the urge to tell the unvarnished truth, and write really what I saw.”
Many designers present — London Fashion Week stalwarts included Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha, Gareth Pugh and Michael Halpern — scoffed at the notion that the writer, famously unafraid to tell it like it is, had ever been anything but. “Everybody in the room has been guided by Suzy,” said milliner Stephen Jones, as he delivered his speech. “Always in a positive way — but sometimes your reviews were to the point.”
Menkes’ unwavering dedication to journalism and the fashion industry cannot be understated. She confirmed that shall not wane now she is an octogenarian, saying “I will continue supporting creative people until I can’t write any more,” and looks forward to the international show circuit in January 2024. “I actually enjoy going to shows, which puts me in a rare group of journalists who mostly moan the whole time.” She left her sentiments on a touching key, professing to love fashion but her family more, before languishing in her standing ovation with warm bemusement.
As he left, Kors, who will fly back to New York today, told The Standard: “Not only is Suzy always there, but her curiosity just knows no bounds. We have had fashion shows where my ceilings have fallen on her, and it would never put a damper on her. She’s 80 years young.”
Inside Suzy Menkes' 80th birthday party:
Michael Kors
Gareth Pugh and Michele Lamy
Sarah Burton
Damian Samuels and Natasha Cowan
Jasper Conran
Christopher Kane
Simone Rocha
Andreas Kronthaler
Dame Zandra Rhodes
Virginia Bates
Hamish Bowles
Laudomia Pucci
Julian Vogel
Isabelle Harvie-Watt
Michael Halpern
Caroline Rush
Lucien Pages
Solange Azagury-Partridge
Linda Loppa
Bella Freud
