Anna Sui Fashion Designer

The following biography contains information on Fashion Designer Anna Sui.

BIOGRAPHYInternational Fashion Designer Anna Sui's involvement in fashion began at an earlyage, with a devotion to dressing her dolls and her neighbor's toy soldiers for her ownpersonal version of the Academy Awards. Sui eventually extended her fashion interestto include designing her own clothes and clipping fashion magazine pages to serve asinspirations. To this very day, she continues to refer to these "genius files".

After graduating from high school in Detroit, Michigan, Suimoved to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design.While at Parsons, Sui found a collaborator and close friend inSteven Meisel, today one of the world's top fashionphotographers. Her early days as a stylist for Meisel's shootsincluded editorial for the Italian fashion magazine LEI.

After leaving Parsons, Sui worked at a variety of juniorsportswear companies.

In 1980, Sui presented six original pieces at the Boutique Show

 

and immediately received an order from Macy's, who featured one of her designs in aNew York Times advertisement. That same year, Anna Sui launched her own businessthat operated out of her apartment throughout the 1980's.

In 1991, Anna Sui premiered her first runway show, featuring her signature "head-to-toe" look and prompting the New York Times to proclaim it a "pastiche of hip andhaute styles." In that same year, Sui moved her business and showroom to its currentlocation in the Garment District.

In 1992, Sui opened her own boutique at 113 Greene Street in the SoHo district of NewYork. The store reflects Sui's distinct taste: pairing flea market furniture and whimsicalDolly Head mannequins in a room with purple walls and red floors.

In 1993, Sui won the prestegious CFDA Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent.

The first of three Anna Sui freestanding boutiques in Asia opened in May 1997 inTokyo. The second opened in Osaka in the Fall of that same year. Another Osakavenue opened in 2000. The stores mark the continued worldwide expansion of theAnna Sui brand and lifestyle. Isetan Company Limited is the main licensee for theJapanese distribution of the women's collection and Mammina, a subsidiary of Isetan,is the distributor to department and specialty stores there.

In 1997, Anna Sui Shoes premiered on her runway for Fall 1997. Manufactured byBallin in Venice, Italy, the shoe collection is comprised of both day and evening styles,and include velvet, silk, patent leather, snake and lizard skin, shearling and suede.

Anna Sui opened her Los Angeles boutique in 1999 in Sunset Plaza, in WestHollywood.

In 1999, Sui launched her signature fragrance and cosmetic line. In October 1997,Anna Sui signed a fragrance licensing deal with Wella AG of Germany to develop asignature fragrance. In a three-sided arrangement, Wella shares the Anna Sui beautybusiness with Japanese cosmetics maker Albion, which holds the Anna Sui colorcosmetics and skin care license. Under the agreement , Wella will produce and marketAnna Sui fragrances while Albion introduces the Anna Sui color collection for Japan.Wella will sell the fragrances to Albion, which will distribute them inside Japan, whileAlbion will sell the color cosmetics to Wella for distribution outside of Japan.

For Fall 2000, Sui Dreams, the second Anna Sui fragrance launched worldwide.

Called a designer that "never panders" by The New York Times, Anna Sui continues todesign and manufacture her signature Anna Sui Collection in her New York Cityheadquarters. Her runway shows continue to set trends and inspire designerseverywhere. Sui's signature wit and original designs draw legions of devotees to herpieces, including clients Patricia Arquette, Christina Ricci, Cher, Naomi Campbell,Sofia Coppola, Courtney Love of Hole and James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins.

CLOTHING COLLECTIONS

 

ANNA SUI COLLECTION FOR MEN AND WOMEN

* Signature line introduced in 1980.* Produced in the Anna Sui design studio in New York City* Anna Sui signature collection is known for its high fashion edge with a vintagesensibility* Retail price range; jacket $300 - $800; dress $200 - $500* Anna Sui collection is currently sold in approximately 200 retail outlets in the UnitedStates, Europe, and the Far East

ACCESSORIES COLLECTIONS

ANNA SUI SHOES FOR WOMEN

* Debut Fall 1997* Licensing agreement with Italian based company Ballin to manufacture the Anna Suiwomen's shoe collection* The Anna Sui women's shoe collection comprises approximately 30 styles. A limitedcollection of corresponding handbags and purses comprises approximately 8 styles.* Retail price range $150 - $450

ANNA SUI SIGNATURE COSMETICS AND FRAGRANCE COLLECTIONS

ANNA SUI SIGNATURE COSMETICS AND FRAGRANCE COLLECTIONS

* Three sided licensing agreement with Wella AG to manufacture fragrance and Albionto manufacture cosmetics.* Color collection includes foundation to lip, eye and nail products. Anna Sui fragrancecollection includes perfume, eau de toilette and bath products.* Sui Dreams, the second fragrance from Anna Sui launched Fall 2000.* Sui Love, the third fragrance from Anna Sui launched Spring 2002.

ANNA SUI REVIEWS

New York Times on Anna Sui's Fall 2000 collection"Ms. Sui seemed to transform herself from a club habitue who always knew what washappening below 14th Street to a mature designer whose inspirations might be a KenRussell film or a rococo palaceÉ The upshot was a sophisticated look that relied not onobvious symbols of glamour, like pearls and trailing boas, but on simple modern idealsas lightness and comfort."

 

 WWD on Anna Sui's Spring '99 collection"Anna Sui is a practiced hand at mixing antiquated romance and modern loveÉ Hermeld of 'rococo and gypsy' was so fresh it evoked a 'girl who's just fallen in the riverand gotten back out,' just as Sui intended."

WWD on Anna Sui's Spring '98 collection"Three cheers for Anna Sui, who hung 10 with her fabulous spring collection...In oneof her best collections in seasons, Anna Sui broke the boredom of fashion week with aterrific show."

The International Herald Tribune on the Spring '98 collection"Sui's style is rooted in the 1970's, with references to flower power hats, tiny Libertyfloral prints, and to the ethnic trail. But she made it all seem fresh and modern... Thecollection had a sunny spirit that made the downbeat, downtown collections on otherrunways seem like last year's trends."

WWD on Anna Sui's Fall '97 collection"...(Sui's) clothes have never been about wallflowers. Instead, she loves a kind of overt,hip fashion that manages to be both saucy and sweet, and she has a knack forcombining the familiar and the frivolous in a way that makes perfect sense."

The New York Times on the Spring '97 Anna Sui collection"Two forces are always at work in fashion: innocence and its brazen opposite. But whatis amazing about Miuccia Prada and Anna Sui, fashion's most conniving designingwomen, is how they manage always to work both notions into their shows."

WWD on Anna Sui"Anna Sui is the sorceress of New York fashion - she definitely has the power toenchant."

The New York Times on Anna Sui's Fall '96 collection"It is Ms. Sui's method of research, paired with the madness of her creativity, thatmakes her shows more than inspirational. They are educational, too."

RUNWAY SHOWS

JOB TITLESDesigner 

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