Sui, Anna (1955-)

Dates

• Existence: 1955-

Biography

American fashion designer. Sui’s approach exemplifies the Post-modernist spirit of American fashion design that surfaced in the late 20th century. Sui achieved the quirky femininity and kitschy romance associated with her house through an unorthodox appropriation and layering of iconic elements drawn from the history of both fashion and anti-fashion. A connoisseur of cool, Sui and her designs have gained a following among rock stars, models and movie stars with a glamorous but edgy aesthetic.

Sui was the second of three children born to middle-class Chinese immigrant parents. In interviews, she often recalls the moment when she knew that she wanted to design clothes for stars. Playing with her brother’s toy soldiers, Sui dressed them in tissue-paper gowns and staged them in a mock Academy Awards ceremony. Experimenting with her style from a very young age, Sui made her own clothes and appliquéd her accessories with swatches to create the matched sets that would later become a trademark. As a teenager, Sui cut out and saved inspiring images from magazines. Now part of a lifelong archive and dubbed her Genius Files, these images are available on her website as emblems of her aesthetic. Growing up in suburban Detroit, Sui was also enthralled by the thriving local music scene, which was to later influence her designs.

In the mid-1970s, following her dream to become a fashion designer, Sui was accepted for early admission to Parsons School of Design in New York City. Sui chose Parsons because of an article she had read in Life magazine that described the success of two young Parsons graduates who had started a fashion house in Paris with the backing of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. At Parsons, Sui befriended fellow student and photographer Steven Meisel (b 1954). Sui and Meisel participated in the 1970s and 1980s New York club scene, gleaning inspiration from street fashion that has continued to serve Sui’s design aesthetic throughout her career.

Sui left Parsons in her second year to begin working for a juniors sportswear company. She worked as a stylist for Meisel’s fashion shoots and for several different sportswear houses while creating designs on her own time for herself and for friends. In 1980, while designing for the women’s sportswear company Simultanee, Sui put together a collection of five pieces for a boutique show and received orders from department stores Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. Macy’s featured her designs in a New York Times advertisement. The head of her company, seeing the advertisement, threatened to fire her if she continued to design in her own name. Sui quit and, using her final pay check, launched her business from her apartment.

Sui’s first fashion show, in April 1991, débuted her characteristic pastiche designs in explosive style. A mix of Chanel-style suits in large-scale black-and-white houndstooth or window-pane patterns, brightly colored vinyl coats and a motorcycle jacket adorned by whimsical coordinated accessories, gold chains and chunky jewellery, her collection exaggerated classic elements of fashion history and animated them into caricature. The collection was modeled by superstars Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista, friends of Steven Meisel, who participated in exchange for Sui originals. In subsequent collections, Sui continued to combine elements from seemingly incompatible sources, mixing high and low fashion references, both current and antique. Some of her most influential lines have featured babydoll dresses, grunge influence, stuffed animal accessories and a modern take on Victoriana. Sui’s designs regularly reference contemporary youth culture through the appropriation of street styles and combine these with historic elements to achieve a romantic and off-beat whimsical style.

Riding on the huge success of her first show, Sui set up her business in New York’s garment district in 1991. In 1992, Macy’s established an Anna Sui boutique in its Herald Square designer department and featured her collection in a highly publicized window display. That same year, Sui opened her flagship Soho boutique. Sui subsequently grew her business through the expansion of her collection, the opening of new stores and multiple licensing agreements, resulting in Anna Sui boutiques in New York, Asia and the Middle East, and her collection being sold in boutiques all over the world. Her collection has grown to include menswear, shoes and handbags, cosmetics and five fragrances.

Found in 7 Collections and/or Records: