"One of the successes right now of women designers is they have concentrated on realistic clothing. Because we wear the clothing, we're a little more sensitive to it, a little closer to it." Anna Sui
Anna Sui was born in Michigan in 1964. She moved to New York City, where she attended the Parsons School of Design. Sui clipped and kept "Genius Files" of fashion that inspired her, which she has maintained for decades.
Sui worked for junior sportswear designers before becoming a designer herself, selling her clothes to major retailers. Her line premiered on the runway in 1991, and became an immediate hit, with Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell among the models for her first show.
Her first store soon opened in New York's Soho district, and it has become the flagship of dozens of boutiques around the world, with many in the Orient. Sui mixes influences and styles from around the world and throughout history.
She introduced her fragrance and cosmetic lines in 1999. Sui received the Perry Ellis Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1992, and their Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. Time magazine named her as one of the top 5 fashion icons of the 2000s.