The World of Anna Sui

The Fashion and Textile Museum are hosting the first ever restrospective of an American fshion designer in the UK. With over 125 full looks ‘The World of Anna Sui’ explores the glamorous and eclectic world of one of New York’s most beloved and accomplished designers. Since her first catwalk show in 1991, Sui has become known for creating fabulously original clothing inspired by spectacular amounts of research into vintage fashion and popular culture.

 

Left Image: Linda Evangelista modeling A/W 1991 – Anna Sui’s first runway show featuring looks inspired by 1960’s Carnaby Street.

Right Image: Pop-sydelic Collection, Autumn Winter 2016, featuring Jamie Bochert & Justin Gossman.

Images left to right: Anna Sui, 2011 © Anna Sui.

Anna Sui’s collections take you on a creative journey that is unparalleled in the world of fashion. Mixing vintage inspiration with her current cultural obsessions, she effortlessly makes hip and exuberant original clothes. Anna Sui’s first fashion show in 1991 earned her international acclaim. She won the CFDA Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent in 1993, and in 2009 she received their prestigious Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award.

Images left to right :

Gracie Van Gastel backstage at the Spring Summer 2014 Collection inspired in part by the Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant Garde exhibition at the Tate in 2012 combined with the work of The Fool, the 1960s psychedelic design collective.

Image © Raoul Gatchalian Spring Summer 2012 Isetan Mitsukoshi promotion featuring Frida Gustavsson.

Image © Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello. S/S 2014 collection featuring menswear inspired by the Sixties London boutique Granny Takes a Trip.

Images left to right :

Nordic Viking Ensemble, A/W 2015, inspired by the History Channel’s Vikings show. Textile print by Zandra Rhodes featuring feathers, shells and hibiscus © Zandra Rhodes, 2015.

Gigi Hadid and Caroline Trentini modelling the Polynesian Collection, Spring Summer 2016. The print on the dress modelled by Gigi Hadid was commissioned from Zandra Rhodes and the models also wear wedge-heeled Hush Puppies shoes, which highlight Sui’s ability to make strategic partnerships with kindred designers and manufacturers.

Image © Jennifer Graylock. Surfer-inspired look from the S/S 2016 Tahiti collection.

The exhibition is arranged thematically with 12 inspirational archetypes which recur throughout Anna Sui’s collections. Please refer to the exhibition booklet for additional interpretation.

Anna Sui designs and manufactures from her New York City headquarters. Her runway shows continue to inspire and set trends with her signature rock- n-roll romanticism. The Anna Sui brand has been independently owned since its inception in 1981.

The Fashion and Textile Museum is at 83 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XF.

http://www.ftmlondon.org #annasui