The World of Anna Sui

Anna Sui is a famous fashion designer. She was born in Detroit, Michigan. Since she was a child Sui dreamed of becoming a fashion designer.

After reading an article about two fashion design students who, after graduating from Parsons School of Design in New York, opened a boutique in Paris, Sui decided to move to New York to attend the Parsons School of Design as well. During that time Anna Sui befriended photographer Steven Meisel and a long time friendship started.

Anna Sui had a lot of interests from which she was inspired just as downtown subculture or going to Warhol films, visiting gay discos and seeing the New York Dolls, her favourite band. As Sui grew up she enjoyed listening to punk music.

Those different directed hobbies are also shown in her amazing collections.

My first impression about Anna Sui´s collections was fascination because of the various colours, textiles, patterns and structures that she uses.

As I looked closer at her different assortments I was impressed by her talent of adding details.

In her Nomad Collection she uses mostly dull and pale colours just as fawn and white. I really like how she styles her models and combines two different materials and pattern. Her sense of adding details is incredible.

The light appearing shirt with the breezily mapped skirt and the dominant brown belt, which has big silver buttons and a silver chain on it, looks great together.

I also enjoyed looking at the Victorian Collection especially at the black dress which has a lot of shiny sequins attached. The material for the dress is almost transparent but simple so it seems very light and at the same time elegant. The simplicity operates with the artful patterns of sequins to a preachiness outfit.

The use of bright colours that are used for the Grunge Collection impressed me because they are unlike most collections designed by others. That is because a lot of times fashion designers use simple colours like black and white. Those outfits have the unique handwriting of Anna Sui and are therefore recognizable.

The dark green trousers and vest combined with a rainbow striped long sleeved shirt and a flour belt convey a happy and free atmosphere.

When I looked at the American Collection the outfits reminded me on a "typical American High School" teenager style. The outfit in red and white looks like an cheerleader outfit. The belly top underlines this expression. Anna Sui added to this outfit a cap with flours that causes a fresh atmosphere.

After this Collection it became more clear that Sui got inspired by a lot of different things.

The last Collection I want to mention is the Retro Collection because in this one Sui uses a lot of striking patterns. The flowers remind on fun and summer even she uses dark colours as well. The thick jacket with the white fur collar and light pink flower sample combined with the greyish and bluish shirt added to a velvet trousers are a hilight of this collection. It harmonizes well even she uses a big colour palette and various materials.

Honestly, I did not know about Anna Sui before this exhibition. Therefore I did not know what to expect and I had low expectations. But Sui surprised me in a positive way and inspired me to use patterns and colours without any concerns.

Furthermore, I love how Sui conveys the different themes that inspired her in those collections.

In my opinion is she an extraordinary woman who has a lot of talent not just because she creates clothes but also because she designs shoes, necklaces, belts and hats to have the perfect outfit for the show.