Anna Sui

Anna Sui

Anna Sui at her New York City office
Born August 4, 1964
Detroit, Michigan
Nationality American
Education Parsons The New School for Design
Occupation Fashion designer
Awards

Time Magazine- Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade;[1] CFDA Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award;

Bravo A-List Award
Labels

Anna Sui Dolly Girl by Anna Sui

Anna Sui Mini

Anna Sui (born August 4, 1964)[2][3] is an American fashion designer. Sui is one of the most celebrated names in American fashion, known for her timeless designs and ability to transcend eras with historical and culturally inspired collections.[4] She was named one of the "Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade" [5] and in 2009 earned the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), joining the ranks of Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Diane von Furstenberg.[6] Her worldwide luxury fashion brand includes clothing, shoes, cosmetics, eyewear, and accessories, as well as her renowned line of signature fragrances. Anna Sui products are sold through her free-standing stores and distributors around the world in over 50 countries. In 2006, Fortune estimated the collective value of Sui's fashion empire at over $400 million.[7]

Early life

Sui was born on August 4, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan to French-educated Chinese emigrants. By the time she was four years old, Sui knew she wanted to be a designer. As a teen, she read an article in Life Magazine about a girl who graduated from Parsons design school in New York and then moved to Paris, where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton opened the girl a boutique. As Sui recalls, "As a kid, you think 'wow', you’ve found the magic ticket...all you have to do was move to New York and go to Parsons."[8] Years later, when Sui went back and re-read the article, she realized the girl’s father was the legendary photographer, Irving Penn. Sui moved to New York and attended Parsons The New School for Design. [9]

Early career

After finishing her second year at Parsons, Sui was hired by juniors clothing label Charlie's Girls,[10] the first of several jobs where she learned by designing for sportswear labels and doing styling on the photography shoots of friend and former Parson's classmate Steven Meisel. During this time, she began designing and making clothes out of her apartment. While working for the sportswear company Glenora, she brought her collection of five pieces to a New York trade show, and caught the attention of a couple of New York department stores. A few weeks later, those clothes were featured in a New York Times advertisement.[11] The manager at Glenora, where Sui was still on the payroll, was furious when he saw the advertisement in the Times and fired her on the spot.

Left without a job, Sui took her $300 in savings and started a business out of a little corner in her apartment's living room. [12] For several years, Sui ran the company out of her apartment, doing odd-jobs for spare income and reinvesting every penny of earnings into her business. The 1980s was the height of “power-dressing” companies such as Chanel, Lacroix and Versace; Sui struggled to stand up next to the big-name fashion houses. In 1991, Sui's supermodel friends Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista got together and encouraged her to try a runway show. Sui rented a small space in the Meatpacking District and paid the models by giving them the clothes. The successful show was the biggest breakthrough of Sui's career: "That those beauties (Campbell and Evangelista) were then at the height of their fame helped stoke the reception Sui got from buyers and the news media."[13]

Anna Sui Line

Caroline Trentini for Anna Sui Spring, 2011
Karlie Kloss in Anna Sui dress - September, 2011

That year, Sui opened her first retail location at 113 Greene Street in New York City's Soho District. The flagship store, with its lavender walls, red floors, antique black furniture, and signature dolly head mannequins has become a staple of SOHO fashion and has guided the aesthetic of Anna Sui stores worldwide. Evoking the Anna Sui lifestyle, "the stores have come to emphasize the epitome of culture in a continually shifting fashion world."[14] Over her career, Sui has also grown her brand internationally in the American, European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets. Her iconic fashion shows, with their much-anticipated rock music and background designs, are a staple at New York Fashion Week.

For the past two decades, Sui's iconic collections have drawn on her travels around the world, with inspirations ranging from Belle Époque, Pre-Raphaelite paintings, Uzbekistan, to the American West. Sui designs and manufactures her signature collection in her New York City headquarters on Fashion Avenue. In addition to her work as a designer, Sui has ardently fought to keep the industry alive and has spearheaded a campaign to "Save the Garment Center", which was highlighted during Fashion Week in September 2008.[15] Sui's designs attract many famous clients such as Blake Lively, Naomi Campbell, Sofia Coppola, Liv Tyler, and Courtney Love.

Anna Sui Shoes premiered on the runway for the fall collection in 1994. Manufactured in Venice, Italy, the shoe collection includes both day and evening styles, in velvet, silk, patent leather, snake and lizard skin, shearling and suede.

In 2009, Sui partnered with Target to produce a Gossip Girl inspired line combining Upper East Side style with a downtown edge. The limited edition collection was available for several weeks in September. A children’s line known as "Anna Sui Mini" debuted in early 2009. Sui was also contracted by Samsung Electronics Co. to design cellular telephones.

Reception

Jessica Stam in Anna Sui dress - February, 2009

For her innovative work, Sui has been called a designer who "never panders" by The New York Times, and earned the distinction of being named to Time magazine's list of the decade's top five fashion icons.[1]

In 2008, she was profiled in Newsweek's Women and Leadership.

In 2009, Sui won the Council of Fashion Designers of America Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, which serves to honor contributions made to American fashion by outstanding individuals in the industry.

Perfumes

Karlie Kloss in Anna Sui dress- September, 2011
Sasha Pivovarova at Anna Sui show- February 2008

Sui introduced her signature fragrance and cosmetic line in 1999. Her much-anticipated and collectible perfumes are famous for their elaborate packaging and bottle designs.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Chinese American Heroine: Anna Sui". AsianWeek.com. AsianWeek. February 12, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Anna Sui Style.com Profile". Style.com. Condé Nast. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  3. ↑ Paton, Elizabeth (March 2, 2012). "Still Swinging". Financial Times. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Sui School". Vogue UK.
  5. ↑ Griffith, Hayley. "What's Next for Anna Sui". Huffington Post.
  6. ↑ "CFDA Past Winners". CFDA Website.
  7. ↑ "Scouting Mission". New York Post.
  8. ↑ "About Anna Sui". Anna Sui Website.
  9. ↑ "Sui, Anna". Vintage Fashion Guild Website.
  10. ↑ "Anna Sui". Voguepedia.com Website.
  11. ↑ "HOW I STARTED…24 – Anna Sui". .
  12. ↑ "Anna Sui: Label Overview". Nymag.com.
  13. ↑ Trebay, Guy (2009-02-11). "The New York Times "Testing Her Strong Suit"". Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  14. ↑ Time Magazine
  15. ↑ Pinson, Laurel (24 December 2008). "Save the Garment District?". The L Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2008.

External links