Date: 6 December 1984
Originally published in: Bravo (Germany)
Written by: Inge Czygan
New image – new love? Do you live together wit your friend Gary?
No, I live alone in my apartment in North London, only a few minutes from the city center. I want to stay alone for now. Some years. Living together with someone can be more complicated than living with your parents.
Doesn’t Gary want to live in with you?
Oh, he hasn’t asked me yet. But I believe that we would drive eachother up the walls. I do that. Also to my family, that is why I moved out. Also I hurt silently on my own when I’m irritated by something. Instead of shouting out what bothers me.
How long have you been living alone?
A year. Before that I already had the apartment for a year, but I lived with my parents while I decorated the apartment.
Not so simple, to find a place of your own for the first time, was it?
I saw a couple of them at the time, but they were all modern or they came with furniture. Which was bad for me, because I wanted to design the interior myself with art deco furniture and paint in blue and pink. It was during the time that I was preparing for the tour and was jogging every week. While I was jogging I passed this building, which as built in the Twenties or Thirties, and I saw that one apartment was up for rent. So I thought I would take a look.
I ran in, still sweating. I looked terrible, and the porter just said “hello” from a distance. Then he looked me up and down, because he didn’t know what to think of me. At first I didn’t think much of the apartment, because it didn’t have any carpets, no lighting, no bath, no kitchen. But then the sun came shining in and I fell in love. So I bought it.
And what does it look like now?
I have two bedrooms, a big living and eating room, bathroom and kitchen are being renovated. The first thing I bought was a big bed. But I still need so much! I have all my LP’s in storage. I need shelves, for example.
Is there always a lot going on in your house?
I have a lot of neighbours and I have to take care that it doesn’t get too loud. I don’t do parties. But my friends from Art college come round a lot, they bring a bottle of wine and we have a lot of fun.
What did you miss in the beginning?
I was so excited about living alone that I didn’t miss anything. The most exciting thing for me was to find out how everything functions. I have spent hours on that, trying how the stupid washing machine works. And how to get the laundry dry.
You don’t smoke anymore. Is there a smoking prohibition in your house?
I make an exception for my friends. When they go I don’t like the smell it leaves. But most importantly, they use ashtrays and don’t spill red wine everywhere.
Did you bring back anything great from New York?
No, not for myself. There was this business with Steve Strange. He phoned me by coincidence on the day before I flew away, and I told him I was flying to New York. So he said, bring me this and that and that and more – a big list. And then he also needed Chanel no. 3, foundation from Max Factor, etcetera. I went shopping but I bought nothing for myself, but a lot for Steve Strange.
