Along with his Steve Rubell, Ian Schrager was the mastermind behind Studio 54. The two Brooklynites revolutionized the nightclub scene, transforming what was the Gallo Opera into an all-night club that led hundreds to wait outside on the streets fin the hope of passing through the velvet ropes.
In an interview Tuesday, Schrager talked about their rocketing ascent and damning fall that resulted in pleading guilty to corporate tax evasion and serving time in prison. Now, working as hard as he was 20 or 30 years ago, Schrager is a partner with Marriott for its Edition hotels, and he has his Public hotel enterprise through his own company. Looking back to Studio 54’s heyday in the late Seventies — as people often ask him to — Schrager said, “We were two guys from Brooklyn trying to hold onto a lightning bolt and to create the best crowd we could to make everybody have a good time.”
WWD: Why does Studio 54 have such a lasting impact?
Ian Schrager: Everybody is an expert about this. There were three things that Studio did that had never been done before. Number one — everybody, when you were lucky enough to get in there, felt a feeling
In an interview Tuesday, Schrager talked about their rocketing ascent and damning fall that resulted in pleading guilty to corporate tax evasion and serving time in prison. Now, working as hard as he was 20 or 30 years ago, Schrager is a partner with Marriott for its Edition hotels, and he has his Public hotel enterprise through his own company. Looking back to Studio 54’s heyday in the late Seventies — as people often ask him to — Schrager said, “We were two guys from Brooklyn trying to hold onto a lightning bolt and to create the best crowd we could to make everybody have a good time.”
WWD: Why does Studio 54 have such a lasting impact?
Ian Schrager: Everybody is an expert about this. There were three things that Studio did that had never been done before. Number one — everybody, when you were lucky enough to get in there, felt a feeling
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