SUE TILLEY
44 Scene
to anything, even working in Burger King. It wasn’t really the career path he wanted. Imagine now, he could have been the MD of Burger King.”
“My eyes fell on Leigh. He wasn’t dressed freaky then. Well, I suppose some people would think he was. We started talking and that was it, we were friends for life” When did he develop his look? “A year after we met, if that. He lived near Brick Lane. There were a lot of fabric shops selling cheap stuff around there. He put together this look but he was too shy to wear it. So, he put it on his flatmate Trojan. When Trojan wore it a few times Leigh saw how much attention he got, so he started wearing it himself.” The clothes weren’t made with much of a budget. “Some of the fabrics cost 50p a yard. He made me a lovely gauze dress, but because the fabric was so cheap it dragged along the floor. Also, it was very nasty if a cigarette got anywhere near you: up they went up in flames because they were so synthetic.”
STILL TABOO
Sue Tilley was depicted in Boy George’s musical Taboo. As it turns 20, she tells us about her life with Leigh Bowery, partying in the ‘80s and becoming an artist in her own right ) Sue Tilley became a celebrity in the
art world when Lucian Freud painted her. Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (1995), which depicts Sue nude on a sofa, is one of his most significant late-period works. The painting was later sold to Roman Abramovich for £17 million.
What went through your mind when you first saw Taboo, the musical? “I was very excited; I couldn’t believe I was in it. I saw a dress rehearsal and was thrilled. It brought back the ’80s.” How did you meet Leigh Bowery? “At the back of Heaven there was this club called Cha Chas. You had to go down a dirty alley to get there. I was friends with Stephen Luscombe from Blancmange. He took me one evening and my eyes fell on Leigh. He wasn’t dressed freaky then. Well, I suppose some people would think he was. We started talking and that was it, we were friends for life.” Did you get the sense that he was destined for great things? “Not really. Maybe a little bit, but I never imagined he’d become as
famous and as special as he did. He wanted world domination.”
How did his club night Taboo emerge? “Tony Gordon found the club in Leicester Square. I’d never been there, I don’t think anybody had. So Tony arranged it and asked me if I’d like to host it with him. Obviously Leigh took over and took the credit for everything.”
Leigh had been working at Burger King before he met Sue. “He told me all about it. He was mortified when they tried to make him the manager. That was it, he knew he had to leave. Some people can turn their hand
Taboo developed a reputation for being very hedonistic. “Oh yes, you could do whatever you wanted. You’d go down the stairs and suddenly you were in a wild playground of misbehaviour.” BENEFITS WOMAN SLEEPING
As well as being a muse to Freud, Sue was best mates with fashion icon Leigh Bowery.
Did he set out to be a designer? “Anything that made him world famous. He got famous for lots of things but it wasn’t really of his own accord. Like when he worked for Michael Clark’s dance company. He wasn’t in charge, you see, although he tried to be.”
