Fashionpedia
Anna Sui
"I'm past the stage of being rebellious."
In 1991, Anna launched her first runway show. It was in 1992 that she took a chance with a personal clothing line and opened her first boutique shop at 113 Greene Street in New York City's Soho District. This shop, with its purple walls and red floors, reflects her taste for pairing flea market furniture and dolly head mannequins. According to relative Grant Sui, "The stores have come to emphasize the epitome of culture in a continually shifting fashion world." The first of Sui's freestanding boutiques in Asia opened in May 1997 in Tokyo. The second opened in Osaka in the fall of that same year. In following years, the popular stores soon expanded to over 80 independent locations all over Japan. In 1997, Anna Sui Shoes premiered on her runway for the fall collection. Manufactured by Ballin in Venice, Italy, the shoe collection is comprised of both day and evening styles, and include velvet, silk, patent leather, snake and lizard skin, shearling and suede. Anna Sui opened her Los Angeles boutique in 1998 in Sunset Plaza, in West Hollywood. Sui also made headway with the international markets as boutiques sprang up in Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.
In 1999, Sui launched her signature fragrance and cosmetic line after signing with Wella AG, of Germany to develop it. In a three-sided arrangement, Wella shares the Anna Sui beauty business with Japanese cosmetics maker Albion, who holds the Anna Sui color cosmetics and skin care license. Under the agreements, Wella will produce and market Anna Sui fragrances while Albion introduces the Anna Sui color collection to Japan and the broader Asian market. Wella will sell the fragrances to Albion, which will distribute them inside Japan, while Albion will sell the color cosmetics to Wella for distribution outside Japan. For fall 2000, Sui Dreams, the second Anna Sui fragrance, launched worldwide.
