Anna Sui facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Anna Sui
Sui in 2009
Born	(1955-08-04) August 4, 1955 (age 70) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Education	Parsons School of Design
Occupation	Fashion designer
Label(s)	Anna Sui Dolly Girl by Anna Sui Anna Sui Mini Anna Sui Vision The Souvenir Shop Anna Sui
Awards	CFDA Perry Ellis New Talent Award Time – Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade CFDA Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award Bravo A-List Award Classic Icon of Fashion and Design Identities – Leadership in the Arts Award 2017 Honorary Doctorate Recipient, The New School

Anna Sui

Chinese name

Traditional Chinese

蕭志美

Simplified Chinese

萧志美

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Xiāo Zhìměi
Wade–Giles	Hsiao¹ Chih⁴-Mei³

Japanese name

Kana

アナスイ

Transcriptions
Romanization	Anasui

Anna Sui (Chinese: 蕭志美; pinyin: Xiāo Zhìměi; born August 4, 1955) is a famous American fashion designer. She creates many different things, including clothes, shoes, makeup, perfumes, glasses, jewelry, and home items.

Anna Sui was once called one of the "Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade." In 2009, she won a special award called the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). This award is given to designers who have made a huge impact on fashion, like Yves Saint Laurent and Giorgio Armani.

Anna Sui's Early Life
Starting a Fashion Career
Growing the Anna Sui Brand
- First Big Fashion Show
Anna Sui Stores
Expanding Around the World
Special Projects and Collaborations
- Retail Collaborations
Awards and Recognition
Giving Back to the Community
Anna Sui's Product Lines
Images for kids
See also

Anna Sui's Early Life

Anna Sui was born in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents were Chinese-American. Her father studied engineering and her mother studied painting in Paris. Anna's grandparents also had interesting backgrounds, with family from Tahiti, China, and Japan.

Anna knew she wanted to be a fashion designer by the time she was four years old. Her mother taught her how to pick out clothes and fabrics. Anna loved watching her mother sew. She would collect fabric scraps to make clothes for her Barbie dolls and her brothers' action figures. This is how she learned the basics of making clothes. She even started creating her own outfits by mixing and matching different clothing patterns.

When she was a teenager, Anna read an article in Life magazine. It was about two young designers who went to Parsons School of Design in New York City. They then moved to Paris and opened a boutique. Reading this article helped Anna decide what she wanted to do with her future.

Starting a Fashion Career

Anna Sui moved to New York City and studied at Parsons School of Design. After her second year, she got a job in 1975 at a clothing company called Charlie's Girls. There, she learned a lot about designing sportswear. She also worked as a stylist for her friend Steven Meisel, a photographer. Their work together was very popular.

After Charlie's Girls closed, Anna worked for other sportswear companies. But she also started designing and making clothes in her own apartment. She wanted to create clothes for rock stars and their fans. She mostly sold her designs to music stores.

While working for another company, Glenora, she took five of her designs to a fashion show in New York. Big department stores like Bloomingdale's and Macy's noticed her work. A few weeks later, in August 1979, Macy's even featured her clothes in a full-page ad in The New York Times.

When her boss at Glenora saw the ad, he was very angry and fired her. Without a job, Anna used her $300 in savings to start her own business from her apartment. For several years, she worked odd jobs to earn extra money and put all her earnings back into her business.

Growing the Anna Sui Brand

The 1980s were a time when "power-dressing" was popular, with big brands like Chanel and Versace. Anna Sui was different. She explored a new style called "grunge fashion" along with designers like Marc Jacobs.

Around 1987, Anna moved her fashion line into a showroom called Annette B. The owner, Annette Breindel, helped young designers, and she greatly influenced Anna. This allowed Anna to move her business out of her apartment and into New York's Garment District. By the late 1980s, Anna Sui had a strong following, especially in Japan. She expanded her business there in the mid-1990s.

First Big Fashion Show

In 1991, Anna Sui had a major breakthrough. She was with her friend Steven Meisel when they picked up Madonna. Madonna surprised Anna by wearing her clothes to a Jean Paul Gaultier show. Madonna later wore the same outfit for a photoshoot with Meisel for Vogue.

Later that year, Anna Sui had her first runway show in New York City. Her supermodel friends, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Linda Evangelista, encouraged her to do it. Anna rented a small space and paid the models by giving them clothes. The show was a huge success. The New York Times noted that having such famous models helped Anna get a lot of attention from buyers and the news.

Caroline Trentini for Anna Sui Spring/Summer 2011

The Anna Sui store in New York City

From her very first show, Anna Sui was known for her fun, creative, and entertaining way of showing her collections. Her shows often felt like a party. Starting in 1995, her designs were regularly featured in Vogue Patterns.

Anna Sui Stores

Anna Sui opened her first store in 1992 in New York City's Soho District. This main store was famous for its red floors, black antique furniture, and purple walls that Anna painted herself.

In 1993, the Anna Sui company opened another store in Hollywood. That same year, Anna also started including menswear in her shows. Even Mick Jagger wore one of her suits on Saturday Night Live. In 2015, her main Soho store moved to a new location, but it closed in late 2020.

Expanding Around the World

Liu Wen on the runway at Anna Sui Fall/Winter 2010

The year 1997 was very important for Anna Sui's global growth. Her first standalone stores opened in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. She also started a shoe line with an Italian shoemaker. For her Spring/Summer 1997 fashion show, Dave Navarro of the Red Hot Chili Peppers appeared on the runway, which got a lot of media attention.

In 1999, Anna Sui launched her first fragrance, Anna Sui Classic, and a makeup line. In 2000, she added a skincare line. Her collections were also shown at London's Victoria & Albert Museum.

In 2003, she launched her Dolly Girl fragrance, which became very popular. She also started a long-term collaboration with Peruvian designer Ali Rapp.

Special Projects and Collaborations

Anna Sui has worked with many different companies and artists.

In 2004, she designed costumes for characters in a comic book series and a Japanese TV show.
In 2005, she designed a special cell phone for Samsung and a lingerie line for Victoria's Secret.
In 2006, she created a limited edition Anna Sui Boho Barbie doll.
For Hello Kitty's 30th Anniversary in 2007, Anna Sui designed a special collection.
In 2008, she designed a custom Nissan 350z car.
In 2011, she worked with Google to create a special Google Chrome web browser theme.
In 2012, she collaborated with Disney for her cosmetics line.
In 2014, she partnered with Ford Motor Company for the 50th anniversary of the Ford Mustang. She also worked with a Hong Kong ice cream shop to create her own purple ice cream flavor!
In 2015, she teamed up with Sailor Moon for a collection and with Starbucks for a holiday collection.
In 2017, she collaborated with Kenner/Takara to create a Blythe doll collection. In 2019, she designed outfits for special Barbie dolls for Barbie's 60th anniversary.

Retail Collaborations

Anna Sui has also partnered with big retailers to make her designs more accessible.

In 2009, she worked with Target to create an affordable fashion line inspired by the TV show Gossip Girl.
In 2011, she designed shoes for Hush Puppies and luggage for Tumi.
In 2012, she created a handbag line for Coach.
In 2014, she launched a sportswear collection with Fila in Asia. She also designed a collection with O'Neill inspired by California beaches.
In 2015, she partnered with The Frye Company to create a boot collection inspired by Nordic culture and the TV show Vikings.
In 2016, she reissued pieces from her 1993 and 1994 collections with Opening Ceremony.
In 2017, she teamed up with Macy's for a collection that included new versions of her runway pieces, jewelry, and shoes. She also launched a home collection with PBTeen.
In 2018, she collaborated with Modcloth on a collection of dresses available in extended sizes.

Awards and Recognition

Anna Sui has received many awards for her work:

In 1992, she won the CFDA Perry Ellis award for new talent.
In 2009, she received the Classic Icon of Fashion Design award in Beijing and the CFDA's Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award in New York City.
In 2010, she published a book about her 20-year career.
In 2011, she received the Leadership of the Arts Award at Harvard College.
From 2013 to 2016, her designs were featured in museum exhibitions, including at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Beijing SKP department store.
In May 2017, London's Fashion and Textile Museum opened a special exhibition called The World of Anna Sui. This was the first time an American fashion designer was the only subject of a museum show in the UK.
In 2018, she received the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Pioneer Award at the United Nations for her achievements.

Giving Back to the Community

Anna Sui is also involved in many charity and community projects:

In 1996, she designed a special car to raise money for breast cancer research.
After the September 11th attacks in 2001, she designed an outfit to raise funds for firefighters.
Anna Sui is a strong supporter of making clothes in the USA. She has led campaigns to "Save the Garment Center" in New York City.
After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, she auctioned off her designs to help a civil-rights organization in Mumbai.
In 2010, she partnered with Isetan and Bearbrick for a charity event to benefit the World Wildlife Foundation.
In 2011, after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, she designed and sold shirts to raise money for disaster relief.
In 2012, she designed uniforms for employees at musician Jack White's record stores.
In 2014, she designed a commemorative doll for The Wizard of Oz 75th anniversary. The dolls were auctioned to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
In 2015, she partnered with a New York restaurant for a fundraiser to help the Bowery Mission, a shelter in Manhattan.
Anna Sui often gives talks to students to inspire them. In 2015, she spoke at the University of Michigan, encouraging students not to be afraid of the fashion industry.
In 2017, she designed a pair of Vans shoes to support high school art programs.

Anna Sui's Product Lines

Anna Sui has many different product lines, showing her unique style.

Shoes

Anna Sui Shoes first appeared on the runway in 1994. Since 2009, she has worked with the shoe company FitFlop to create comfortable and stylish shoes. Her designs are sold all over the world.

Cosmetics

The Anna Sui Cosmetics line started in 1999 with a Japanese company called Albion Cosmetics. She also launched a skincare line in 2000. Her makeup line releases two new collections each year, inspired by her fashion designs. It includes makeup for face, eyes, lips, nails, and also skincare products.

Fragrances

Anna Sui launched her first perfume in 1999. Since then, she has created many different fragrances, with most coming in various sizes. She usually releases two new main perfumes each year.

Eyewear

In 2009, Anna Sui launched her eyewear line, which includes spectacles and sunglasses. She also introduced a contact lens line in 2016, available in several Asian countries.

Other Fashion Lines

Anna Sui has also created other fashion lines:

Anna Sui Jeans: A denim line launched in 1994.
Anna Sui Mini: A line for babies, toddlers, and children, launched in Japan in 2009.
Dolly Girl by Anna Sui: This line was inspired by the "dolly heads" that are a symbol of Anna Sui's style. It started with a perfume in 2003 and then became a clothing line in Japan in 2008. It focuses on fashion and accessories and has many stores in Japan.
Sui by Anna Sui: Another line launched in 1994, focusing on sportswear for men and women. Anna Sui relaunched this line in 2019.
The Souvenir Shop Anna Sui: Launched in 2016, this line offers travel items and fashion accessories, including duty-free products at airports in Japan.