Features

Name: Susie Wong

Where do you live? I live in Manchester and have done since I was 21, so nearly 17 years and I love 

Manchester!

What do you do? I am a bartender at Epernay. I have been bartending for 7 years. Before that I have always worked with Fashion.

My first job after Uni was working as a junior designer for a Manchester based company called Baylis and Knight. One of the owners, Alison, her husband is the lead singer from a Manchester band The Inspiral Carpets. The studio is in Ancoats in an old mill. The designers have a unit in Affleck’s.

I then went to work in retail; Vivienne Westwood and Hervia. Hervia was in the Royal Exchange (this was before the bombing in the 90's) it was a very popular shop that sold labels such as Bella Fraud, Hussein Chalayan, John Richmond, Destroy, and Dexter Wong. A favourite for show off clubbers in the 90's that went to The Hacienda, which I luckily got to experience twice on a night called Flesh.

The 90's played a big part of my life, earning my own money, buying everything that I wanted. I loved Affleck’s! It had many vintage and designer clothing including Red or Dead. I am proud to say I owned a lot of the pieces by Red or Dead, the Space Baby collection, Lego and Groover Hoover. I also have many clothes, shoes, bags and jewellery by Vivienne Westwood and a Paper shirt by Hussein Chalayan as worn by Bjork.

I went to an art college in Blackburn, studied fashion at Uni, and worked in retail, in the early 2000 I started making my own jewellery. It all started of with me making things for myself then people started telling me to make them something, and that's how I got into making and selling. I sold to many boutiques, Thunderegg, No Angel, Arc, Birdcage Boutique, and Bow Wow Wow. I also had a stall at Portobello Market every now and again that was a great experience as I met Paul’s Boutique and Leona from Lady Luck.

Lots of people tend to create mainly in one way – but you find so many ways of being creative. Do you have a favourite? Is one harder than others? I don't think about how to be creative, I think 
with such a high interest in art, fashion and music for 37 years it comes naturally to how I put things together and how to pick out things from others that I prefer.

Childhood memories is also one of my favourites to get ideas, Mary Janes, Smock Dresses, Bows in hair etc.

You live in Manchester right now, is there anywhere else you would rather be? Wouldn’t swap Manchester for anywhere else.

Do you look to other people for inspiration? Can you tell us who? I would definitely say music is a big influence. I love 70's Disco and 70's rock. The Beatles, Blondie and Carrol King. I have been to many gigs in my school and college days, including James, Dee Lite, The Farm, The Wonderstuff, Neds Atomic Dustbin...

Do you have a favourite item of clothing? What do you love about it? I don’t particularly have a favourite piece of clothing, my make up and shoes come first as I have to be comfortable in how I look and that my feet are comfy. But I do love my white anglais broderie smock dress; I wear it with my brogues or my biker boots. It goes well with any piece of jewellery I have, and however way I do my makeup.

What is your recipe for friendship? My recipe to a good friendship is sharing.

What were you like as a little girl? Were you always interested in fashion? As a little girl I have always been the one to win an Easter Egg Competition, chosen to help out with the making of the scene for activity plays like making the costumes and background, and getting high marks for neat hand writing.

What would be your favourite way to spend a Sunday? My perfect Sunday is a clean around the house, tea and cake, shopping, Audrey Hepburn movie.

How do you think living in Manchester has affected the clothing you wear? Living in Manchester has definitely affected the way I dress especially as I have worked in some of the nicest shops, been to some of the nicest clubs and bars around, meeting people like myself who love fashion and fun. Wouldn’t swap Manchester for anywhere else.

How would you describe yourself to someone who hadn’t met you? I would describe myself as witty, quirky, ditsy, a good sport, kind and fun to be with. Although, if you don’t know me people have told me before that they found unapproachable in a good way. People have always asked what I do when they meet me. It is very important to be creative and keep coming up with ideas, pushing yourself that one step further when people try to copy your style; not a bad thing as it shows you are doing something right and they want to dress like you, so it's up to you to set a new trend. Keeping up being creative allowed me to be the bartender I am today. I am successful, I have great ideas, and I have good taste.