Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism--a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era. Not if it ended up in the same way.
“We never believed in having a VIP area because it would take all the great people out of the room, and the other people would be short-changed,” he says. “Don’t forget there’s limitations, laws and regulations, you can only go so far, I don’t have to go as far as I did before.
In a new exhibition, Studio 54 co-founder Ian Schrager goes back to the late 70s to explore the highs and lows of the celebrity-packed hotspotIan Schrager has seen many things in his life, but nothing quite like this. It’s completely upside down, but I guess that’s the way it is now.”The exhibit features more than 250 photos, from Brooke Shields in the DJ booth with Calvin Klein, Grace Jones singing at 3am while pointing a gun at the audience, Bianca Jagger seated on a white horse on the dancefloor, Halston kissing Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner laughing with Francesco Scavullo, Diana Ross with a balloon on New Year’s Eve and Truman Capote passed out with a hat over his face.The photos are not posed portraits; they’re spontaneous moments captured on the dancefloor, in motion, off the cuff moments that capture the energy, style and raucousness of the era.“There was definitely a ‘no photo’ policy,” he says.
a list of 99 titles “We all know it, feel it and when you walked into Studio 54, you felt it.”That same spirit lives on at Schrager’s new nightclub, “It’s so rare to create that environment again,” says Schrager. But eventually the club was raided and its owners went to jail. Prodigiously talented, Halston reigned over fashion in the 1970s and became a household name. I have a lot of fun memories of the club, the only sad thing is that Steve Rubell isn’t here to see this redemption, after 40 years.”In one photo, Rubell sits with TV host Tom Snyder underneath a wooden sculpture of a moon with a spoon to its nose. The famous 1970s New York City nightclub seen and told through the eyes of a young employee. “I just think the only nightclub people I knew who survived the whole experience were Steve and I,” says Schrager. Waring Abbott / Getty Images The 73-year-old Studio 54 co-founder is freaking out on the phone.“It’s funny after 40 years! a list of 111 titles A look at the life of legendary fashion designer Valentino. Dance till 4am to tracks spun by original STUDIO 54 DJs, including John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez, the long-time heart and soul of New York’s audacious party scene and producer behind artists including Madonna, Whitney Houston and Billy Joel. Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society.
Allan Tannenbaum / Getty Images Clubgoers dance amid light towers on the dance floor at Studio 54 on May 15, 1978. “Doing an exhibition on Studio 54? The life and career of fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen: from his start as a tailor, to launching and overseeing his eponymous line and his untimely death. What happened there was far more than just a concert. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. An uncannily revealing portrait of American photographers Andy Sweet and Gary Monroe and the vibrant community of Jewish retirees they obsessively focused their camera's lens on in the sunburned paradise of 1970s Miami Beach. Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club's hallowed threshold, a feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time.