DESIGNERS

   

 

Chinese-American designer Anna Sui, based in New York, is attracting a strong following in Europe, particularly with the success of her fashionable fragrances and cosmetics. On the launch of her signature eyewear collection at Silmo, Clodagh Norton talked to the designer about the roots of the Sui signature style.

What have been the key pieces in your clothes collections that have helped you make your mark as a leading fashion designer?
What really solidified my business was when I started doing dresses in the late '8Os. There was a change in the market and women suddenly discovered the convenience of the dress. They realized that you could accessorize it and wear it for both day and evening. The working woman hadn't thought about wearing a dress in this way before then. Dresses have become a key piece across my collections.

From where do you draw inspiration for your clothes designs?
Really whatever I'm interested in will inspire me, somehow I can just take it and put it into my work. I have a bulletin board where I put things that inspire me. I sometimes cut out things from magazines, I might see a movie or read a book. I travel a lot so when I'm abroad I go to exhibitions. I have spent a lot of time in the Victoria ?t Albert museum in London. I have a friend who works there so I have looked through entire collections.

   

I'm also inspired by ethnic clothing and I go to all the flea markets in the cities I visit. Ail these influences filter into the collections.

Have the same sources inspired your new eyewear line?
I think the new Anna Sui eyewear collection takes all the main elements of Anna Sui - my love for nostalgia, the flea market theme, Art Nouveau influences, and arts and crafts. We have taken signature elements such as the black and purple scheme of my boutiques. We've also emphasized the feminine feel that comes out in my dress designs and the Anna Sui sense of humor. I wear glasses and I love glasses. I have tons of different ones and I am always on the search for more.
 

Vintage styles are having a huge revival at the moment. Have you always been inspired by references to the past?
I am a very nostalgic person. I love seeing handicrafts from previous times. I also miss some of those things that today's technology, although valuable, has taken away from us. I like to incorporate a human touch in my designs, and to interpret old traditions. There are so many crafts out there that are dying out. The hand-made feel of a product should be valued.

What motifs have you used to give the eyewear a touch of the eccentricity of your signature style?
I've gone back to the main elements of my design. The nostalgia, the good-girl and bad-girl imagery, the rock 'n roll elements and of course the Art Nouveau details. Humor is also important. I like irony. I think it's important that people question things. To ask, is this the image of a good girl or a bad girl? Does it suggest something devilish or angelic? I like that challenge.

You're often singled out as a designer who goes against the grain, as welt as an important trendsetter - in your opinion, why is this?
I always liked being different. I'd love being the rebel. I'd be the first one to do a short skirt when everyone else was doing long skirts. Then I'd do a long skirt when they were doing short skirts. I like forcing change. With Anna Sui, I have a very strong brand image and as long I stay true to myself, it seems to work. I own my own company so I don't have anyone to answer to; this allows us great flexibility. We don't have to maintain a corporate image - and we are addressing the independent person. People long for individuality, they long for a feeling of discovery. The smaller designer has the chance to make things more personal.

What are your plans in Europe?
We are making inroads in department stores across Europe. Globalization is a difficult thing, but the Anna Sui cosmetics and perfume lines have helped us open the doors in Europe. Someone who wants the fantasy or thrill of Anna Sui can find it in a perfume or a lipstick. Somehow, these Anna Sui products have become very far-reaching.
20/20 12/2001

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