On New Year’s Eve, the designer, Netflix star, style icon and impresario Susanne Bartsch took over the Gatsby Mansion with Matt Kovalsky for an epic Surrealist Ball. Think of surrealism, and Salvador Dali or Remedios Varo might come to mind, but New York does it differently. We saw cloud hats, eyeball masks, birdcage headpieces and blue alien-like creatures that transcended art history, though melting clocks made an appearance, too.

New York needed this ball because 1) it’s been a hell of a year, and 2) we’re all desperate for a little novelty in our lives. Bartsch’s event, held at a new, cool, underground venue not many people have heard of (in the middle of Midtown, no less), was co-hosted by Amanda Lepore (famously David LaChapelle’s muse) and drag superstar CT Hedden. Attendees included Patti Wilson, Steven Klein, Nicky Doll, and RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Miz Cracker and Yasmine Petty. Music by Tom Peters, Leo Schneck, Clinton Foster and more dazzling acts ushered in 2024.

You probably know Bartsch, who wore a couture chapeau topped with a New York pigeon, even if you don’t know you know her. She’s had a solo exhibition at the Museum at FIT focused on her thirty-year career as party host, avant-garde fashion icon and being the bridge between the art and fashion scenes of New York. And her forthcoming picture-heavy memoir, Bartschland: Tales of New York City Nightlife, is coming out on May 28.

We caught up with Bartsch post-NYE to chat about her epic New York parties and what’s next.

Amazing. It was fun, it........

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