Exhibit shows how pop culture and Miami stores influenced Anna Sui
FLORIDA: You may know fashion designer Anna Sui for frocking “It Girls” from now (Adele, Gigi Hadid, Vanessa Hudgens, Leighton Meester, Emma Watson, the Duchess of Cambridge) and from then (Sofia Coppola, Nicole Richie, Courtney Love, Paris Hilton, Blake Lively). Or perhaps you scrambled for one of the retail collaborations or product lines the New York-based bohemian bigwig did with Target, Macy’s, Anthropologie, Victoria’s Secret, Coach, Matel’s Barbie, Hush Puppies and Starbucks. Yes, Starbucks.
A travelling exhibit, “The World of Anna Sui,” will be on view at Fort Lauderdale’s NSU Art Museum Feb. 28— Sept.19. So now’s your chance to get to know the Detroit-born Chinese-american, or at least her aesthetic, in a more profound way than when she started making headlines in the 90s by having rocker Dave Navarro on her runway in lingerie or for being besties with uber-model Naomi Campbell.
The retrospective originated in 2017 at the Museum of Fashion and Textiles in London. Since then it has travelled to Shanghai, Tokyo and New York, with updates to the display of a litle over 100 oufits from Sui’s ( pronounced SWEE) first runway show in 1991 to the cowgirl and cheerleader looks in her 2017 show with its Americana themes. You get to see her mood boards, photographs, sketches, pop culture memorabilia and runway photographs that show how she infuses her Boho-chic designs with music ( the 1993 grunge collection is a touchstone for that genre), cultural iconography, contemporary art and a decidely downtown demimonde sensibility.
The exhibit has a muses section, which spotlights South Floridians Jane Holzer, who lives in Palm Beach, and Barbara Hulanicki, the designer and founder of Biba who lives in Miami Beach. There will also be an Anna Sui Pop-up Shop, including limited-edition merchandise created especially for the museum.
Here is more on the exhibit in excerpts from a conversation with Sui.
I remember running into you in South Beach back in the 90s and you told me that you loved the vintage and thrit stores in South Florida and that they were a big influence for you. Is that right or am I still dazed and confused?
“Yeah, definitely. Especially before it kind of got so polished, the whole area. They were such great finds. Then they got too picked over. I always loved all the kitsch, like the straw bags with the shells on it or like fun jewellery, like kind of Miami type jewellery. So that was what I was always looking for, that kind of kitsch sort of thing.” Do you still come to South Florida? “I haven’t been for a long time. I have a really good friend who lives in Miami. And I’ve known her since my first job and we’ve stayed in touch. And she was a buyer at Burdines. But I would say in the last 10 years I haven’t been down there. Well, let me think. I went New Year’s to Madonna’s party, but that’s more than 10 years.”
Knowing South Florida as you do, even ater 10 years or so, what do you think in this exhibit will particularly resonate with audiences here?
“Well, I think, you know, I’m really a product of pop culture/americana. So I think there’s always something in the collection, something that reminds them of their childhood or teenage years, something they maybe remember seeing. Like when the movie ‘Clueless’ came out; my collection was kind of a big influence on the way those ladies were dressing. I think there’s always something from pop culture that will atract them. They will remember it. They’ll remember, like maybe, the androgynous clothes that like Trent Reznor wore or Anthony Kiedis. There’s just layers of things within a collection and within an oufit that people just seem to be atracted to.”
Your collections reflect music, sub cultures, art history, diverse cultural iconography, Jungian archetypes, which I imagine is part of the reason that this exhibit really works in the art museum seting. What do you think?
“I guess yeah. I think because there’s such a mix of influences, kind of a litle bit of something for everyone involved in all the kinds of icons I use or references that I use. And, as you said, music is a big part of it because maybe they’ll remember like the grunge era or the punk era, which I’ll mix in, and I might mix it with Madeleine Castaing, the interior designer from France, but there is still that punk element in there. Or Marie Antoinete mixed with the New York Dolls. So, maybe the guys are going to get the punk rock reference and the ladies are going to get the historical or fashion element.”
There’s a section in this exhibit that features your muses, such as South Floridians Jane Holzer of Andy Warhol fame and Barbara Hulanicki, the designer of Biba. So, what did you get from each of these women?
“Well, both of them were my idols since the 60s. I remember seeing Jane Holzer in Life magazine being photographed in great 60s fashion, but with kind of projections on the wall behind her. And reading about the Andy Warhol underground films. And then she had the beautiful mane of hair. And then I would start seeing her in Vogue magazine. She would do a monthly column called ‘Vogue Boutique’ and she would explore all the new boutiques, especially like in the East Village.
And Biba, again, I discovered as a teenager and saw pictures of the Biba collections and every time when I came to New York, I would ask my mom to bring me to Bergdorf [Goodman] because they had a Biba shop there. So, I would see the makeup counter and the clothes and I was so taken by those murky dark colours she would design in like teals, maroons, plum. And [I was] just fascinated about how she created this whole world. And you can see in my career how much I was influenced by her. And consequently as a adult I got to be friends with both of them. And so it just happens they both live in Florida, so why not celebrate them and use them as muses too for the show, because there is so much influence of both of them behind these collections.”