Suzanne is an honors graduate of Louisiana State University and The Fashion Institute of Technology.  She was awarded the Bill Blass Award for outstanding graduate in the accelerated program at FIT.  She is the LSU 2007 Young Alumnus of the Year and named 2010 New Orleans Magazine Top Female Achiever.  

After more than a decade of working in New York alongside Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, and Anna Sui, Suzanne returned home to open her own design business specializing in once-in-a-lifetime gowns for brides, debutantes, and Mardi Gras royalty. The expertly tailored gowns draw from the legacy of couture.  Hurricane Katrina delayed her plan, but Suzanne stayed the course and leased office space within three months of the storm.  She became part of a group of entrepreneurs committed to revitalizing New Orleans post Katrina.  The thirteen -year-old business has flourished.  She employees local fashion design graduates and has mentored numerous interns from LSU and numerous schools around the country.   She has dressed brides from coast to coast, including Sarah Blakely, the founder of Spanx.

Bringing her talent and experience to New Orleans has been more rewarding than she ever imagined.   Becoming the go to designer for the Mardi Gras queens including the Queen of Rex has become a dream she did not know she had.   Suzanne also had the amazing honor of redesigning and making the new LSU Golden Girls uniforms just in advance of the 60^th anniversary.  The path of her return to New Orleans was laid decades ago by her grandmother Ruth Hackett East and her mother Caroline Perron.  Both were talented in design and garment construction.  Her grandmother taught sewing and Metairie Park Country Day and had a children’s line specializing in little boys.  Her mother was the Costume designer and wardrobe director for Twin City Ballet in Monroe for twenty years.  

The LSU Press published a coffee table book authored by Suzanne in 2012.  Designing in Ivory and White follows the designer’s path and showcases the techniques and artistry of her bridal and debutante creations.

When asked how she can do it ALL she is quick to give credit to her supportive and caring husband, William St. Paul.   They are also the parents of eight-year-old identical twin boys.