Dianne wears COAT Christian Siriano.
Andy Warhol crowned her ‘Queen of the Night’; she was the muse of Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler; even a mannequin was created according to her measurements. Dianne Brill is the epitome of an It Girl. She ruled the clubs and newspaper headlines of New York in the Eighties. Her bleach-blonde hair remains consistent to this day. Her look is unique, her red lips her signature. She also writes about this in her 1992 bestseller Boobs, Boys and High Heels: How to Get Dressed in Under Six Hours, a light-hearted essayistic biography in which Brill playfully talks about her time as an It Girl in New York. Dianne Brill reminds me of a Disney queen, then and now – or the good witch from the North Glenda of Wizard of Oz.
SLEEK captured her in New York City at ‘The Nines’, a downtown supper club spot that exudes timeless elegance and irreverent glamour. It’s Brills favourite spot, that befits her whole style and identity. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that she was chosen as a judge for the German version of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Her charisma as well as her whole appearance are tailor-made for the most famous drag show in the world. Dianne Brill is undoubtedly an original icon, the mother of all It Girls – and she has agreed to share photographs from her personal archive along with some personal notes with us for ‘IN PERSON’
DISCO BALL MUGLER, Shot by Roxanne Lowit: Thierry Mugler was my date that night in Paris. He won a Venus award and natch I was wearing one of my runway looks. Later that jumpsuit would be on the cover of my book Boobs Boy’s and High Heels
BRILL ON SINK, Shot by Andrew Macpherson: This was a bathroom in a Posh London hotel. We were shooting for W Magazine and the title of the article about me was: NO ONE SAID STOP! I loved that. No one better ever say stop.
BRILL CONTACT SHEET, Shot by Kevin Davies: Kevin and I were shooting for The Face and we shot this look in a video and about 10 contact sheets. Just fooling around and swinging my Bob hairdo. I was always so comfortable with him.
MUGLER AND BRILL, Photo Courtesy of Brill Archives: Thierry Mugler and me on stage rehearsal for a Mugler fashion show we did for the Vienna Aids Charity Life Ball. The world had gone Grudge and we were struggling to find a midway between Grunge and our usual glamour mindedness ! He is so handsome here.
ANDY WARHOL SHOOTS DIANNE BRILL, Shot by Roxanne Lowit: Andy and I were at Area NYC’s epic club and he wanted to shoot me then Roxanne Lowit shot him shooting me. I have both Andy’s shot which came out misty and blurry with all the smoke and this one and Andy and I agreed this was the one.
BRILL, HOLDING APPLE, WITH WARHOL, Shot by Patrick Mcmullan: Someone just threw the apple to Andy and me as a prop in the middle of the amazing club Danceteria. The legend Cookie Mueller the writer and star of John Waters movies was with Andy and me. And my friend Carmel which by some wild coincidence her parents had bought my childhood home from my parents when we were kids I had never met her then .I found out one night as young adults while chatting and posing in the club ... crazy
Dianne wears COAT Christian Siriano.
As featured in SLEEK 79 – MOTHER. Available in print and digital here.
CREDITS
Photography: Caroline Tompkins
Photography Assistant: Raphael Gaultier
Talent: Dianne Brill
Location: The Nines, New York