South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Miami thrift store’s influence on Anna Sui
How pop culture and Miami thrift stores influenced the fashion designer
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, Mattel’s Barbie, Hush Puppies and Starbucks.
Yes, Starbucks.
A traveling exhibit, “The World of Anna Sui,” will be on view at Fort Lauderdale’s NSU Art Museum Feb. 28-Oct. 3.
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 traveled to Shanghai, Tokyo and New York, with updates to the display of a little over
100 outfits 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 Bohochic 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 also 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 (see details below).
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 thrift 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 jewelry, like kind of Miami type jewelry. 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 along 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 after 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 attract 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 outfit that people just seem to be attracted 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 setting. What do you think?
“I guess yeah. I think because there’s such a mix of influences, kind of a little 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 Antoinette 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. Or she would be modeling [André] Courrèges, whatever the most current thing was, that was what Jane was about.
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 colors 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.”
There’s a section about your collaborations with other artists too. Can you talk about that?
“Yeah, people have to know, especially kids that are going into fashion design, that there’s more behind the label than the name and the one person. You need a team. I have kind of like a family behind me that were consistently there throughout my 30-something career. You know, like my friend Steven Meisel, who, we kind of both met at Parsons [School of Design in New York City] and he studied illustration and then became a photographer. I did styling for him in the beginning of his photography. But we stayed like really close friends and sent every Polaroid, every photo, of every outfit to him to see what he has to say about it. He helps me with all the casting. People always ask me how come I had all those super models and models before anyone else did, it was always because of Steven.
And also the accessories, Erickson Beamon. I worked with Karen [Elson]. I would give her swatches. I would give her photos of the outfits and she would actually develop all the jewelry based on the fabrications. Garren has done the hair throughout all my fashion shows. I started with Francois Nars doing makeup and then eventually Pat McGrath doing makeup. And again, they would always come up to my office to see my inspiration board. They would get to know what the collection was about. James Cavallo, who I worked with first on hats and then he said, ‘You know I know how to make sweaters too.’ So then we started doing knitwear together.
These were all people that understood what the collection was about, what I was trying to say, had that sense of humor and also style. And we just worked so closely that it kind of became just a fun time when we were developing all these things for every collection.”
Have you done anything for Florida with the pop-up shop that is going to be a part of this exhibit in Fort Lauderdale?
“Yeah, this is very exciting. Besides the merchandise, the kind of iconic Anna Sui merchandise — T-shirts, cosmetics — we revived my Florida print. It was my Americana collection. I think it was 2017, spring, I had done a sort of tongue and cheek sort of American collection where I used a very kitschy sort of Florida map that people used to be able to buy [on] those scarves at the fiveand-dime. So we did a print like that and thought, ‘This is going to be perfect for the exhibition.’ So we re-created that fabric and we re-created some of the styles we did in that show, so that will be available in the boutique.”
So, since so many people are not going out to see shows or concerts or going to parties or social events, I was wondering how does Anna Sui entertain herself during a pandemic? What music are you listening to? What show are you watching? You know, when she’s not working.
“You know, it runs the gamut. I mean I was really, really inspired by that Ken Burns series ‘Jazz.’ So I tried to educate myself and tried to listen to different jazz bands. And learn a little bit about how people....were influenced by the music. But I especially like the early jazz, like from the ’20s and ’30s. So they’ll be days when I come into the office doing sketching and listen to that. Or I went through a whole weekend of Bryan Ferry, not only his Roxy Music but also he did a recent album with all...’20s and ’30s love songs, so that was very fun to listen to. And of course my favorite contemporary band is Tame Impala, so I was listening to that new album.”
So what are you watching?
“Oh please. I never watched so much TV. I mean I’m a total couch potato at this point when I’m home. And I love to binge. The latest one was ‘Lupin.’ Did you watch ‘Lupin?’ I couldn’t stop. I did watch ‘Bridgerton’ and ‘Queen’s Gambit.’ And I like all the kind of British murder mysteries, like ‘Midsomer Murders.’ And my favorite is ‘Endeavor.’ But I know all the episodes by heart now.”
If you go
Due to the museum’s new safety guidelines, advance timed tickets are required for this exhibit. Tickets can be reserved at NSUartmuseum.org or by calling 954-525-5500. Tickets are limited for each time slot in order to comply with COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.
The museum is located at 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.
Museum hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; noon-5 p.m. Sundays and closed on Mondays.
Admission is $12 for adults; $8 for seniors and military; $5 for students (ages 13-17) and college students (with a valid ID). Admission is free for NSU Art Museum members, Nova Southeastern University students, faculty and staff, and children 12 and under.
There is garage parking at:
■ The Riverwalk Center Garage at 150 SE 2nd St.
■ The City Parking Garage/FAU Parking Garage at 144 SE 1st Ave.
■ The County II Parking Lot at 80 SW 1st Ave.
■ And there is public metered parking on surrounding streets.