Party promoter, downtown club diva, partygiver extraordinaire, penultimate hostess, the Swiss Miss, club czarina, celebutante, empress of the night—many lofty labels have been assigned to Susanne Bartsch, New York’s best-known and longest-reigning … pick one of the above. And it was on this day in 1981 that Bartsch first made headlines in the U.S. under the modest label of “shop owner” when she opened Susanne Bartsch, her groundbreaking clothing boutique on SoHo’s Thompson Street.

Described as a 29-year-old Swiss-born antiques dealer who had recently arrived from London, Bartsch filled a niche no one knew was missing until her goods arrived from Europe. With a fascinating collection of designs from under-the-radar avant-garde British designers, the New York Times mused that “there is really nothing quite like it around.” ...