Anna Sui was named one of the "Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade", and in 2009 earned the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, joining the ranks of Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Diane von Furstenberg.
63 Facts About Anna Sui
2.
Anna Sui is an 18th generation descendant of Fang Bao, an influential Chinese poet who founded the Tongcheng School of literary prose popular throughout the Qing Empire.
3.
Anna Sui's niece is actress and model Chase Sui Wonders.
4.
Anna Sui's mother taught her about putting together a wardrobe, bringing a young Anna Sui with her to shop for fabrics.
5.
Anna Sui would spend hours watching her mother sew and would collect the fabric scraps to clothe her Barbie dolls and her brothers' army action figures.
6.
Anna Sui credits reading this article as a pivotal moment in her youth, which gave her clear direction on her goals for her future.
7.
Anna Sui stated that she was inspired to branch out on her own by a desire to dress rock stars and people who attended their concerts.
8.
The manager at Glenora, where Anna Sui was still on the payroll, was furious when he saw the advertisement in the Times and fired her on the spot.
9.
For several years Anna Sui ran the company out of her apartment, doing odd-jobs for spare income and reinvesting every penny of earnings into her business.
10.
Anna Sui struggled to stand up next to the big-name fashion houses.
11.
Anna Sui was one of the few designers of the period who distanced herself from the traditional fashion houses and explored the grunge fashion scene together with designers such as Marc Jacobs, Daryl K and Todd Oldham.
12.
Around 1987, Anna Sui got the opportunity to move her line into Annette B, a showroom curated by Annette Breindel.
13.
Breindel, who had a history of nurturing young designers, was a major influence for Anna Sui and helped the designer emerge onto the fashion scene.
14.
Anna Sui would go on to majorly expand Japanese operations in the mid 90s.
15.
At Paris Fashion Week in 1991, Anna Sui received one of the first major breakthroughs of her career.
16.
Anna Sui was driving with her friend Steven Meisel to see the Jean Paul Gaultier show.
17.
Madonna surprised Anna Sui by wearing her clothing to the event.
18.
Anna Sui rented a small space in the Meatpacking District and paid the models by giving them the clothes.
19.
From her first show, Anna Sui was known for her light-hearted, whimsical, homemade and entertaining approach to showcasing her collections.
20.
In 1993, the Anna Sui Corporation opened a store in Hollywood at La Brea Avenue expanding coverage and controlling North American distribution.
21.
Later, in June 2015, Anna Sui relocated her Soho flagship store to 424 Broome Street from its previous 23 year long location on Greene Street.
22.
The first freestanding Anna Sui boutiques opened in 1997 in Tokyo and Osaka through a distribution and sales license with Isetan.
23.
Anna Sui partnered with Italian shoemaker Ballin to create a shoe line.
24.
In 1999, Anna Sui launched her fragrance, Anna Sui Classic, with Wella AG and cosmetics line with Albion.
25.
Anna Sui took the wardrobes from her Fall 2004 fashion collection, with items including yukata kimono minidresses and purple hose and high-heels.
26.
In 2006, Anna Sui launched a limited edition Anna Sui Boho Barbie doll in partnership with Mattel.
27.
Anna Sui later launched a limited edition collection with Victoria's Secret called Anna Sui for Victoria's Secret.
28.
In 2008, Anna Sui launched the Dolly Girl clothing collection in Japan to follow up on her previous fragrance lines.
29.
In 2011, Anna Sui collaborated with Google to create a themed Google Chrome web browser extension.
30.
For Singapore's Golden Jubilee, Anna Sui partnered with Uniform and Shentonista to create a commemorative SG50 tote featured in a blog series by Shentonista.
31.
Anna Sui went on to partner with Tumi to create a line of suitcases and travel items.
32.
In February 2016, Anna Sui partnered with Opening Ceremony to collaborate on the label's "Year of China" Spring Summer 2016 collection which featured brands like Renli Su, Ms Min and Vivienne Tam amongst others.
33.
In July 2017, Anna Sui teamed up with Macy's, the retailer that gave her her first big break more than 35 years earlier.
34.
In 1992, Anna Sui won the CFDA Perry Ellis award for new talent.
35.
In 2009, Anna Sui was presented with the Classic Icon of Fashion Design award at the China Fashion Awards in Beijing and with the CFDA's Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award in her native New York City.
36.
In 2010, Anna Sui collaborated with Andrew Bolton to publish a book chronicling her 20-year career.
37.
In June 2016, a historical retrospective of Anna Sui's designs displayed at the Beijing SKP department store.
38.
The collection featured Anna Sui designed items and outfits dating from Sui's first show in 1991 through her 2016 collections.
39.
In May 2017, London's Fashion and Textile Museum debuted an Anna Sui exhibition titled The World of Anna Sui.
40.
The exhibition marks the first ever museum retrospective in the United Kingdom featuring an American fashion designer and the first time Anna Sui has been the sole subject of a museum exposition.
41.
In 2018, Anna Sui received the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Pioneer Award at the United Nations in recognition for her achievements in fashion.
42.
Anna Sui's work has been extensively covered both by the journalist industry as a whole and by the fashion press in particular.
43.
In 2010, Anna Sui partnered with Isetan and Bearbrick in a charity event benefitting the World Wildlife Foundation and Malaysia's Forest Restoration and Orang-utan Monitoring Project, with proceeds from a limited edition collection going to the cause.
44.
In March 2011, following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, Anna Sui designed and sold shirts in lavender and black printed with the words Japan, We're All in This Together.
45.
In 2012, Anna Sui worked with musician and friend Jack White to design uniforms for employees at White's Third Man Records retail store which opened in Nashville in November 2012.
46.
In June 2015, Anna Sui partnered with New York restaurant Serendipity 3 in a charity fundraiser to celebrate the restaurant's 60 year anniversary benefiting the Bowery Mission, a rescue mission and shelter in the Bowery area of Manhattan.
47.
Anna Sui regularly gives lectures to students and around the United States to inspire future generations to pursue their dreams.
48.
In October 2015, Anna Sui spoke to local students about her experiences at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor as a part of the University of Michigan's Penny Stamps Speaker Series hosted by the Stamps School of Art and Design.
49.
Anna Sui emphasized the need to not be intimidated by the industry which is sometimes described as cutthroat, even recounting her experiences from when she had been fired from a position at a sportswear company early in her career.
50.
In January 2017, Anna Sui showcased a pair of Vans shoes she designed to benefit the Vans Custom Culture competition, an annual campaign by Vans raising funds and awareness for high school art programs.
51.
Anna Sui Shoes, manufactured in Venice, Italy, premiered on the runway for the fall collection in 1994.
52.
In 1997, Anna Sui entered into a partnership with Isetan to create a fashion accessories line.
53.
In 2010, Anna Sui Cosmetics announced Park Min Young as the brand's key opinion leader in South Korea.
54.
In 1997, Anna Sui began a partnership with Isetan Mitsukoshi covering Anna Sui's fashion label in Japan.
55.
In September 2016, the Anna Sui Loves FitFlop collection was launched.
56.
Anna Sui has collaborated with and featured footwear on her runways from such designers as John Fleuvog, Terry De Havilland, Emma Hope, Bed Stu, and Teva.
57.
Anna Sui introduced her fragrance and line in 1999 with Wella AG, to date the designer has launched a variety of cosmetic items and 30 individual fragrance products with most coming in different sizes.
58.
In 2016, Anna Sui introduced a contact lens line under the agreement distributed in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
59.
Anna Sui collaborated on branding for the line with New York artist Michael Economy and the collaboration with Gilmar lasted until 2004.
60.
In 2003, Anna Sui released a Dolly Girl perfume, later expanded to an entire fragrance collection with several variations.
61.
Anna Sui collaborated with art director Michael Economy on the line's branding elements.
62.
The line focused on sportswear for men and women with Anna Sui directly controlling branding and design and was distributed globally by Gilmar.
63.
In March 2016, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings and its subsidiary Mammina announced the launch of new brand partnership with Anna Sui Corp called The Souvenir Shop Anna Sui which covers travel retail items and fashion accessories.