“You have to focus on your dreams, even if they go beyond common sense.”
Anna Sui was born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan to French-educated Chinese immigrants. Sui moved to New York to study fashion at Parsons,
Her clothes are dominated by vibrant prints infused with a bohemian spirit. She lives and breathes the life of the rebellious young bohemian which is reflected in her designs. While making the rounds of the downtown music scene in the early 1980s, she dreamed of dressing rock musicians, and created bright, flirtatious, defiantly urban pieces out of her Chelsea apartment. Her eclectic mix of vintage and rock reworked for contemporary provocation helped define the style of the 1990s.
Sui is a true trendsetter, to whom stylists and editors look for direction, the boundless energy and creative ingenuity of her runway shows are always a high point of New York Fashion Week.
Sui effortlessly makes hip, exuberant clothes mixing vintage styles with her current cultural obsession. Whether Anna’s inspiration is Victorian cowboys, Warhol superstars or Finnish textile prints, her depth of cultural knowledge shines through.
Sui isn’t afraid to veer far-out (or historically far-off) sources for inspiration—cowboys, early 20th-century French fashion illustrations, Kurt Cobain, cheerleaders—or create unorthodox blends of materials. Sui is now celebrating the 20th anniversary of her first runway show.
She opened her first retail store in 1991 in the downtown Soho neighborhood in New York City and decorated it with beautiful lavender walls, black antique furniture, red floors and signature dolly head mannequins.
The New York Times hailed her as a designer who “never panders” and granted her a spot on Time Magazine’s list of the decade’s top five fashion icons. More recently, Anna was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 2009. This raised her profile to the ranks of Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren and Diane Von Furstengerg. Her fashion brand includes clothing, eye wear, cosmetics, shoes, accessories and a line of fragrances. collective value of Sui’s fashion empire at over $400 million
Celebrities regularly seen wearing Anna Sui include Nicole Kidman, Blake Lively, Drew Barrymore, Cher, Madonna, and many more.
Anna Sui’s collections take you on a creative journey that is unparalleled in the world of fashion. Mixing vintage styles with her current cultural obsessions, she effortlessly makes hip and exuberant original clothes. Whether her inspiration is Victorian cowboys, Warhol superstars, or Finnish textile prints, her depth of cultural knowledge is always apparent. “When I’m interested in something, I want to know everything about it,” she says, “I need to know what’s behind it all. I really enjoy that process.” Sui’s constant search for new ideas and challenges keeps her ahead of her times. She’s a true trendsetter to whom stylists and editors look for direction. The boundless energy and creative ingenuity of her runway presentations always make her shows a high point of New York Fashion Week.