# Anna Sui

Anna Sui (born August 4, 1964) is an American fashion designer.

## Quotes

* They don't need me to be another Establishment designer. That's not what I'm good at...
** via Gerston, Jill. The Toast of New York: Anna Sui Mixes Grunge With Disco. Los Angeles Times (November 13, 1992).
* With the way that the times are, we're all looking for a little fantasy... Fantasy is such an important part of my fashion...
** via Now Smell This. Anna Sui Secret Wish, Summer by Kenzo, Z Zegna & more new fragrances. Pennsylvania (March 29, 2005).
* I'm always about optimism and exuberance. It's what I feel about fashion.
** via Borrelli-Persson, Laird. Spring 2010 Ready-to-Wear. Vogue (September 16, 2009).
* We manipulate fabric.
** via Vanderbilt, Tom. Made in Midtown: Meet Anna Sui. The Huffington Post (June 12, 2010).
* Longing and desire goes further than instant satisfaction. That's human nature.
** via Nika, Colleen. "Exclusive: Anna Sui Discusses Her Spring 2012 Show and Punk Rock Heritage". Rolling Stone (September 14, 2011).
* The sexiest thing about a bikini is that it leaves something to the imagination, which is the best part.
** via WeConnectFashion. "USA Swimwear Market Research Report 2015". WeConnectFashion (2015).
* You have to focus on your dreams, even if they go beyond common sense. How could this young girl from the suburbs of Detroit become a success in New York? It was always that dream.
** via MBFashionWeek.com. IMG Worldwide. 2015.

### CNN Interview (July 31, 2004)

    CNN Interview with Lorraine Hahn. "Fashion Designer Anna Sui'sTalkAsia Interview." July 31, 2004.
* Every time that I wanted to give up, if I saw an interesting textile, print what ever, suddenly I would see a collection.
* To stand out in the crowd I liked the color purple.
* I read about two young ladies that went to Parsons, and when they graduated Elizabeth Taylor opened a store for them in Paris and I thought okay-that's all I have to do!
* I think a dream can take you farther than anything.
* I think that I appeal to the girliness in all of us.
* The man that owned the company that I worked for called me into the office and said how can you be on our payroll and have your own New York Times ad! This has to stop! And I said but it can't I have orders to ship. And he said well you're fired. And that's how I started my business.
* I'm still dreaming.

### CNN Interview (October 4, 2006)

    CNN Interview with Andrew Stevens. "Anna Sui, Founder, Anna Sui Corp." October 4, 2006.
* You have to be in the right place at the right time and understand that and know when it is your time and how you react to it and how you respond to it.
* I love research. I love learning...

### CBS News Interview (March 8, 2009)

    Interview with Rita Braver. "Fashion's Anna Sui: Stepping Forward" March 8, 2009.
* To me, fashion is like a mirror... It's a reflection of the times. And if it doesn't reflect the times, it's not fashion. Because people aren't gonna be wearing it.
* I think whenever people talk about the 'Anna Sui woman,' they're talking about someone that's probably kind of more downtown, and there's always like this ambiguity: Is she a good girl, or a bad girl?
* "It's kind of a dream come true, because to me fashion is not just the clothes, it's all the accoutrements that go with it...

### New York Times Interview (November 11, 2010)

    NYT Interview with Pierre Alexandre de Looz. "Asked & Answered | Anna Sui" November 11, 2010.
* I live for fashion.
* I love the whole story of why something happened when it did and that’s what I put into the collections.
* I don’t answer to anyone.
* We do all the first samples here and all the production in the garment center, within these few blocks... I love the process.
* ... I am a New York designer and the things are made in New York...
* I grew up in Middle America and in the suburbs...
* American television is popular everywhere and its what I grew up on.
* Be true to yourself and figure out what it is that you are good at.

### Interview Magazine (December 15, 2010)

    Interview Magazine Interview with Lisa Marie Presley. Anna Sui. December 15, 2010.
* I was always attracted to the way rock stars dressed and the way their girlfriends dressed.
* When I am designing, I make a selection of music that will be the inspiration behind the whole collection... I will be blasting that music—it becomes a journey I take in my brain to transfer that sound to the clothing.
* I love history. I love art. I like to mix it all together, but in the end it somehow has to all make sense.

### Lula Magazine Interview (February 26, 2014)

    Lula Magazine (February 26, 2014). Anna Sui. Indigo Clarke., February 26, 2014.
* I had a really typical, suburban, middle-class upbringing. The only thing out of the ordinary was being one of the few Chinese families in town.
* I am inspired by New York...
* My main goal when I started my collection – and I didn’t think beyond this actually – was that I wanted to dress rock stars and the people that go to rock concerts.
* We picked up Madonna at The Ritz to go to the Gaultier show together, and she took off her coat. At this point she hadn’t even said a word to me, but she leaned over and said to me, Anna, I have a surprise for you, and she showed me she was wearing my dress.

### Financial Times Interview (July 14, 2017)

    Financial Times Interview with Hester Lacey. Anna Sui. Financial Times., July 14, 2017.
* I’ve known a lot of talented people but the people that really, really, achieve success – there is ambition, focus and drive behind it.
* I bought a fur coat with my first pay cheque and it lived better than I did for years.
* People create their own obstacles.
* ...all the formulas have flown out of the window.

## Quotes about Sui

* Sui's gleeful eye sees poetry where fashion conformists see only the absurd.
** Debra Gendel via Serious Fun: Anna Sui's Quirky Designs Come of Age. Los Angeles Times (August 28, 1994).
* The lynchpin of her unique career is encyclopedic curiosity as much as commercial acumen, studied process and a deep respect for the techniques and traditions of her craft.
** Pierre Alexandre de Looz via NYT Interview with Pierre Alexandre de Looz. "Asked & Answered | Anna Sui" November 11, 2010.
* Anna Sui is synonymous with black, white and purple...
** Stuart, Kelly (September 6, 2011). Designer Drop-In: Anna Sui. Harper's Bazaar.
* Anna Sui is one of the most important and influential American designers of the past twenty-five years.
** Celia Joicey, Head of the Fashion and Textile Museum via Conlon, Scarlett. London To Host Anna Sui Retrospective. Vogue UK (November 2, 2016).
* Anna Sui helped define the look of Generation X.
** Celia Joicey, Head of the Fashion and Textile Museum via Conlon, Scarlett. London To Host Anna Sui Retrospective. Vogue UK (November 2, 2016).
* ...a woman who’s been nothing less than American fashion’s best storyteller for nearly three decades.
** Tim Blanks via Weaving Through the World of Anna Sui: Tim Blanks reveals why Anna Sui is one of fashion’s best storytellers. Business of Fashion (November 2, 2016).
* When I think of her, I think of Mick Jagger. Jimi Hendrix. Heart. Stevie Nicks.
** Lim Suarez, Natalie (November 7, 2016). Anna Sui Brings Out the Rock Star In Me. Natalie Off Duty.
* Before eclecticism and the magpie mix were fashion world buzzwords, there was Anna Sui.
** Yotka, Steff (November 7, 2016). Enter the Age of Anna Sui. Vogue.

### Anna Sui's Sumer of Love #TBT with Tim Blanks (February 19, 2015)

    Tim Blanks via Anna Sui’s Summer of Love - #TBT with Tim Blanks. Style.com (February 19, 2015).
* She used to be a stylist... and I think that really sharpened her eye, she knows how to tell a story with clothes.
* What stayed true about Anna was this wide eyed wonder, she's always been able to bring such beauty into what she does. I feel like an Anna Sui show is an education.
* It's almost as though she's making one long movie and this movie jumps through times and places but the central character stays the same kind of girl.

### Fall 2017 Ready-to-Wear: Anna Sui (February 16, 2017)

    Steff Yotka via Fall 2017 Ready-to-Wear: Anna Sui. Vogue (February 16, 2017).
* It doesn’t do a critic well to try to neatly connect the dots between Sui’s inspirations and her clothing—the way she mashes up her many references is a singular skill that seems innate and above logical explanation.
* Sui has never failed to stage a fantastical runway show...
* She’s... been a champion for the Garment District, raised money for the Bowery Mission, and made concerted efforts to help the victims of global tragedies—which is to say that she’s a kind person, who, it was agreed upon in a car after the show with other journalists, happens to also be one of the nicest people in fashion.
* She really is one of our best.

## External links

* Anna Sui Website
* Anna Sui Instagram