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Suzi Funahara formerly  known as Suzi Skates. We have all read about or come across style icons - people who seem to have been at the right place at the right time, ‘hanging’ with the creative crowd or the hip crowd. Some become legendary in their capacity as inspirational muses to artists, musicians and fashion designers. Icons like that are usually associated with sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Their lives, if they don't end tragically always seem to be ridden by personal struggle. Edie Sedgwick, Marianne Faithful, Nico, to name a few…but Suzi Funahara is another story.

This trendsetter is way too cool for school, at least for that type of school. Throughout her life, in LA, New York, London  and across Europe, she has always been at the heart of the action.

John Slattery , Publisher and Creative Director for WANTED has this to say about Suzi:

“To be honest I am not fond of the word MUSE, it feels antiquated to me. If anything Suzi is the embodiment of the type of woman WANTED is about. Every Celebrity, Musician, or Model you see in this magazine is an offshoot of her essence. The great thing about Suzi is that she is not dated in her style; she is not this sad thing who is in some retro time warp. I would say neo classic, she evolves. People of all generations admire her. I took her to Rad Hourani’s show last season and he could not stop looking at her when we went to say hello backstage, he just kept touching her and seemed somewhat mesmerized. Rad is a baby for God’s sake, but he really got her. The old adage is true you can't be cool, despite all the manufactured style in the business and the world, you just are, and she’s the real deal, none of this Botox, spare chicken parts crap on her! She is in that elite group of women like Anita Pallenberg, Kate Moss and Kirsten Owen, it could be a burlap sack and on them it is effortless chic .I often joke with  Suzi that if you took the DNA of the late Nan Kempner and mixed it with Kim Gordon you would have Suzi Funahara. I absolutely adore her!”

At 51 Suzi is still strikingly beautiful, healthy and dare I say, happy! We meet in her incredibly well organized and stylish apartment across from the Flatiron Building. I feel like a kid in a candy store. It’s full of hidden treasures, books, clothes, shoes and artifacts. Each one, when I ask about it, leads to a colorful story. And the stories are endless...

Suzi Funahara: Where do I begin?

Semeli Economou: How about right at the beginning? Where were you born?

SFR: I was born in Encino, CA. My father died when I was 8 years old but a few years later my mother married my best friend’s father who was  a widower. Suddenly both families’  tragedy had turned into a happy ending for me!  Then when I was 13 we moved to Solana Beach, near San Diego. By that age I was already fully formed and 6 foot tall! My older sister Karla had a vintage clothing shop in Silverlake  so I used to take the train to go and visit her on a regular basis. She used to take me along to all the flea markets and obscure thrift shops to hunt for cool clothes for her shop.

SE: What would you say was your first major purchase?

SF: There used to be a boutique in Beverly Hills called The Bip Bop  and they had these amazing palm tree  shoes, carved wedge satin ankle straps by Pelican Footwear. I  still have them . They cost around $250, which at the time for a 14 year old year was an astronomical amount of money. But somehow, and don’t ask how, I managed to buy them. I thought they were the pinnacle of high fashion! I loved them so much. Later I discovered that David Bowie also had them  and wore them nightly for the Ziggy Stardust and Moonage Daydream Tour.

SE: So much for thrift shopping!

She blushes and giggles…
SF: I know… But I  always wore my thrift shop treasures and discovered  the very crucial fact that everything looks new with an amazing shoe. That’s also when I  fell in love with polka dots, and  to this day I always wear.

SE: So would you say that your sister was an influence in your life?

SF: Oh, yes for sure! Suddenly I had a super cool older sister to look up to and show me the ropes. She certainly educated me, but she was also my partner in crime and together we were discovering fashion, art and music.


SE: Yes. Do tell me about your musical adventures at that age…

SF: Haha! Well, my sisters and I would go to the concerts at the Hollywood Palladium  and the  Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip. It was always a great adventure to dress up for the occasion and of course try to get in. But, because of my height and generally looking more grown up than my actual age I never had a problem. I’m sure it was easier then than it is now. Security was much more relaxed…Every day there used to be a new exciting band playing. Music trends  were more underground as opposed  to the mass  internet influence  we’re exposed to now . And then of course there was The Rodney  Bingenheimer  Club which we used to hang out in. All  touring rock bands  went there after their gigs and you might  see David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Led Zeppelin  or whoever was in town. Hollywood was  not at all  as celebrity orientated as it is now. In any case I was totally into English culture by then, a huge fan of Biba and Ossie Clark, Roxie Music, and generally speaking anything English, both music and fashion wise. At the age of 16, having graduated from high school…

SE: Hold on. You graduated at 16?

SF: Yes I took all my exams as soon as I could so I could graduate and head out into the real world!

SE: OK…So where did you go?

SF: Naturally I headed to London. 70’s London was a so amazing but darker and actually more English than it is now,  but I was in heaven.  Biba , Portobello Road, Kings Road ,  Vivienne Westwood’s SEX , the Kensington Market.  Everything I loved about fashion was there and I was at the center of it all. Moreover, my boyfriend at the time (now my husband  Gennaro Rippo) was  a sound engineer  working with bands like Yes, Tom Petty, Mick Taylor. There was a  24 track studio in our Vauxhall Bridge Road Penthouse, which was very  rare in those days. It meant that all sorts of musicians would gather in our flat . Ginger Baker taught me to make a proper tea.   I  also remember visiting Mick Taylor who was staying with Mick and Bianca on Chenye Walk in Chelsea, and being in complete awe of the art deco white and silver bathroom with  about  fifty perfume bottles on the glass shelves. I thought it was the most glamorous thing I’d ever seen! It explains the aesthetic that makes me happy in my bath to this day!

SE: So off with the 40’s dresses…

SF: Not exactly, still lots of vintage,  I was also wearing Fiorucci skinny  trousers, custom made Terry de Havilland snake skin shoes and a leather jacket by Maxfield Parish and of course glitter, glitter, glitter! Oh and roller skates!

SE: What do you mean?

SFR: I started to roll  around London on skates. I loved being in London and  stayed there for about two years , but then I decided after meeting so many creative people  that I wanted to head back home and DO something.  So at age 19, I enrolled into the San Francisco Art Institute. That’s where I also met some of my lifelong friends like artists Tim Smith, Scott Covert and photographer Marcus Leatherdale.

SE: On skates?

SF: Absolutely! It dawned on me that no one else was doing it at the time, so I set up the Suzi Skates Messenger Service and I  would deliver messages, cakes, and flowers to people on skates. By then I rarely  took the skates off. I had a little uniform with  bright colored tights and a polka dotted mini skirt. .Marcus recalls Suzi of that period as "Suzi Skates ....Teenage Amazon  on Wheels...A force to be reckoned with.. in the shortest  mini…. One Of a Kind Original!"

SF: The whole Suzi Skates thing took off in a massive way and it became a sensation. The press coverage was enormous and soon I had my own comic strip in Roller Skate Magazine called The Adventures of Suzi Skates that ran for several  years. I was closely collaborating with the cartoonist Terre Richards and real events of my life and style  were the inspiration for the strip. I  even had a miniature teen idol who gave me super powers!

Suzi shows me a huge pile of fan letters that she used to receive.

SF: I also used to endorse skate  products  and appear at special events. We had a fan club and  sold  Suzi Skates T-Shirts. It was fun until skating became sooooooo mainstream and since  my true heart was always fascinated by New York. You know Interview Magazine, the whole Andy Warhol and Factory scene, The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Blondie,  The Ramones , The New York Dolls were all truly inspirational and played a major factor in me moving here.

SE: When did you move to NY?

SFR: August 1980 , the year that John Lennon was shot., which was absolutely  shattering to me.

SE: So what were you doing when you came to NY?

SF: I pursued modeling, waitressed, and became the lead singer of Aurora Bora which was my ex husband’s band ( Chosei Funahara, original member of cult band The  Plasmatics)  We played  CBGB’s,The Pyramid Club, and we made an  album, Jap Rap. This was the end of the  Mudd club, Hurrahs days. Of course by then I had substituted my skates for gold bullet heel Springalaters and Maud Frizon suede boots. Later I went on to play bass guitar  with Raging Slab. It was also during that period that I met and became  longtime friends with fashion designer Abbijane and she became a huge influence on my style and life.

SE: Like what?

SF: Her timeless Abbijane Collections , 40’s nightgowns, Italian Vogue,  jungle prints,  Deco, Montana, Mugler, Missoni,, eventually I also  became one of her models . Later a fashion photographer friend, Charles Lamb ,  took me to Paris where I lived for a couple of years and then Madrid. There I hooked up with Rene Zamudio, who later became head designer for Sybilla. I was his  model and creative partner. That’s when I really learned the ropes to represent  designers. But after a while New York was calling me back…


SE: Yes I know the feeling…

SFR: So I returned to NY and got married to Chosei, who by then was immersed in making  films, so that exposed me to a completely  new world. I spent some time in the film world  on location shooting in the Phillipines, Tokyo. and New York, meeting  incredible actors  Peter Fonda, model Verushka , Seymour Cassel, Jennifer Beals., and Steve Buscemi.

Jennifer  Beals talks about Suzi: “I’ve known Suzi for over 20 years and her sense of style has never ceased to amaze and inspire me. No matter what the trend of the season is she is elegant. Being both of the moment and above it. Whether she is in skinny jeans and high heels or a great vintage  dress,  there is always something about her that evokes another time. When beauty and style was not mass produced in malls but was an expression of an individual’s inner and outer grace. And no one can walk up Fifth Avenue in heels like Suzi!”

SE: Were you still involved with fashion when you returned to NY?

SFR: Yes absolutely! I got heavily involved in fashion PR and sales,  representing Kanae, + Onyx, Norman Smitherman, Lincoln’s Shoes, Hank Ford and Adrienne Schaffer. I also  co-produced the first Absolut Fashion Week and Tokyo Street Pop shows , working closely with young emerging designers.

Suzi’s apartment is filled with items of various designers she’s worked with, stylishly displayed like pieces of art.

SE: So what’s the future holding for you?

She laughs…

SFR: I’m really loving gardening lately…and fussing around with tons of  beautiful raw vegetables, but of course I have some thoughts of how to put all my experience  and fashion collection into a business. I have always wanted to own a boutique. showcasing young talent and  choice vintage  and definitely flowers, So that’s something that’s very much on the forefront of my mind. Life always presents itself in the right way at the right time, so I let things flow and not make grand plans.

She beams a big smile.

And as her friend  designer Hank Ford says: “Suzi is a connector to many wonders of beauty and grace, not coming as much from her, as through her, like a wind, a palpable supporting force.”

And she’s right on the money!

Written by Semeli Economou