About Anna Sui:

Anna Sui was born in Detroit in 1955 and moved to New York City after High School.  At age four, she decided that she would become a designer and started to make her own clothes. She mixed a very serious approach to learning her craft with eccentric ideas, such as vowing to not to wear the same outfit twice in one year. “I was completely obsessed,” she says, “I don’t know how my parents put up with me.” Before the end of her senior high school year, she was accepted to Parsons School of Design in New York. After two years at Parsons, Anna styled with friend Steven Meisel and designed for several sportswear companies before launching her first collection in 1980. Anna Sui’s business continued to grow throughout the 1980s, and in 1991 she premiered her first runway show.

It takes a lot of hard work and determination to reach the Top of the fashion business, and Anna Sui has certainly succeeded. Time Magazine included her in the list of five most important fashion gurus of this decade. After designing clothes as a young woman, inspired by the models in magazines, Anna Sui found her own style. She developed her designing business throughout the 1980s and was ready to put on her first runway show in 1991. The models included Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista. Anna launched her own clothing line the following year and opened the first of her boutiques in New York City. Eventually she would have boutiques in Tokyo, Osaka, Hollywood and Los Angeles. She has continued to be particularly popular in Japan, and has designed the costumes for an anime (Japanese style animation), Television series.

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 Anna’s 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.” Anna’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 collection is sold in over thirty countries, and commands premium price tags as befits a top designer Label. The range of dresses, tops and skirts etc. has a modern feel about it, and Anna Sui says she was inspired by the rock chic look. There are also accessories for sale such as bags and belts. Her status Is sealed by the endorsement of an impressive list of Celebrities including Madonna, Christina Ricci, Cher, Courtney Love and Patricia Arquette. James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins is also a fan.

How could this young girl from the suburbs of Detroit become a success in New York? It was always that dream,” she says. Today Anna Sui has over 50 boutiques in eight countries and her collection is sold in 300 stores in over 30 countries. Anna still has the same love of fashion that she did when she was a little girl. The following year she opened her first flagship store on Greene Street in Soho. The boutique’s vibrant mix of black Victorian furniture, purple walls, papier mache dollyheads and rock n’ roll posters closely reflects Anna Sui’s personal decorating style and has been the model for all of her shops. The late 1990s was a time of significant growth for Anna Sui; she embarked upon a hugely successful expansion in the Far East, where she quickly established a huge cult following. She also launched cosmetics, fragrance, shoe and accessory licenses. Her devotion to detail is apparent in every one of her products, which are all intimately connected to her world. Her iconic make-up packaging and fragrance bottle design have even become collectors’ items.