Anna Sui Exhibition Is Heading to the Phoenix Art Museum
Anna Sui fans will have two reasons for a trip to Phoenix this spring.
The Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) is cooking up a dual Anna Sui exhibition — “The World of Anna Sui,” a wide view of the New York City-based designer’s decades-long career as well as a special presentation of pieces from the museum’s collection that are being chosen by Sui as notable trends that trace her own career’s trajectory. The unveiling of the Phoenix leg of the exhibition, which made its debut at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, is scheduled for April 13. Visitors will find more than 100 outfits from Sui’s archives and looks from her more recent collections, as well as objects and outfits from PhxArt’s collection that Sui handpicked.
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Sui told WWD last fall that prior to the retrospective exhibition she hadn’t looked at her career “in any other way than season after season.” However, viewing the show, which featured her designs organized via 12 archetypes including the rocker, schoolgirl, punk, nomad, goth and bohemian, made her realize recurring themes. “Revisiting that reminded me of things that I love; things that I wanted to explore more, and things that had evolved, that I’d like to take a new stand on,” Sui said.
Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington director and chief executive officer of the Phoenix Art Museum, said in a statement, “In the 1990s, Anna Sui was one of the driving forces behind the decade’s now-iconic style, many of which inspire today’s Gen Z trends.”
Sui staged her first runway show in 1991 and has subsequently debuted more than 80 collections of ready-to-wear, accessories, cosmetics and fragrances through her independent brand. Cowgirls, grunge girls, hippie chicks, hula girls, Mods, Pre-Raphaelite maidens, and surfers are some of the territories that her designs have come up with. While runway models like Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista helped Sui’s shooting star, Gen Zers like Gigi Hadid have an appreciation for her work, too. Ditto for Olivia Rodrigo and Dua Lipa.
The designer’s vintage styles are also hot commodities on Etsy, and other resale specialists. And Sui still reels in the celebrities for front-row seats at her runway shows. Last year Debbie Harry, Sofia Coppola and Marc Jacobs were among the attendees. Last fall the Detroit-born designer celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of her first fragrance with a new perfume collection called Wild Wonder.
“The World of Anna Sui” will be on view at the PhxArt in Arizona through Sept. 28.
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