……………..The “VIP ROOM”……was hardly that…….It was in the basement, and the staircase going down into it was guarded!!!….Only the most SPECIAL celebrities were allowed…It was a DUMP….basically a storage room where it was a “safe place” to take drugs….mostly cocaine……..I had my surprise 30th birthday party there….but…..Donna and our staff, unbeknownst to me, arranged to use it for my party…..Schrager told them it was a mess, and if they wanted to clean it up they could have it. The only thing that was there was a chain link fence…..So the work began….Our assistants cleaned the place out. They made it into a school yard as described at the upper left….Graffiti was spray painted on a white washed wall of all the guests that were coming to my party….the swing set and kiddie pool were brought in as well as real grass, beach balls, and even a sand box…….That was all done by my people, and the Studio 54 people were happy with what we did!….On the night of my party a small group of us, four, went to Raoul’s, a small well know French restaurant in the village where we ATE and had plenty of red wine to drink……Afterwards, about 1am, Donna and Steve, her husband, suggested we go to Studio 54. I was surprised because Donna wasn’t a party girl, and I really didn’t want to go….I was full and had too much to drink. I was tired and not in the best form to be going partying….but EVERYONE wanted to go….so since it WAS MY BIRTHDAY I couldn’t be a party pooper, and we all piled in a cab and went up town….The place was PACKED! we got in immediately and Donna took my hand and led me through the dance floor where I thought we were going to dance…..but no…..we continued on to the back staircase to the “VIP ROOM” entrance. As we were going down the stairs I saw my name on a sign down below, but I never put two and two together…..I was clueless! Once down stairs we went around the corner to the chain link fence and everyone YELLED SURPRISE!!!!!! I sobered up quick! There were 50 of my nearest and dearest…my closest friends….lots of designer friends, and models I was close to…..Needless to say it was the best surprise party I ever had…..The only one missing was JAC!!! She was in Europe doing the COUTURE SHOWS and couldn’t be there. After opening presents in the “playground”, we all went upstairs and danced the night away, and went home when it was broad daylight……I never went into work that next day……The picture at the upper left with the man holding on to the fence was my boss, Frank Mori in the “playground” he was already 10 sheets into the wind!!!!…..I heard he never made it into work the next day either……LOL……I’ll never forget it! We had some very special parties at Studio 54….like when Donna and I won our first Coty awards…..but that’s another story for another time!