Just as we at WAG look ahead to our September issue, one devoted to fashion and design, we’ve heard of something notable – and fashionable – happening that month.
The Museum of Arts and Design, a favorite destination of ours, has announced it will present a major retrospective of American fashion designer Anna Sui.
“The World of Anna Sui” will open Sept. 12 and continue through Feb. 23.
The show, with an opening set to coincide with New York Fashion Week, will feature some 75 looks from Sui’s own archive, representing 1991 through Spring 2019 – and also focus on the Detroit-born designer’s creative process, influences and signature sensibility.
Here’s a bit of how the show’s being advanced:
“Arranged thematically, ‘The World of Anna Sui’ is driven by Sui’s 13 design archetypes – Rock Star, Schoolgirl, Punk, Nomad and Surfer, to name a few – that are infused with seemingly incongruent influences, including French interior designer and antiques dealer Madeleine Castaing, the London boutique Biba, pirates, pre-Raphaelite maidens, Yves Saint Laurent and Minnie Mouse. The garments, sketches, mood boards, videos of runway presentations and cultural ephemera on view trace Sui’s eclectic career and illuminate her creative process.”
Barbara Paris Gifford, assistant curator at MAD, has also shared comments in advance of the exhibition: “Since 1991, Anna has been a major influence in fashion, bringing the boutique look to a wider audience and expanding it to accessories, perfumes and cosmetics. A prolific storyteller, Anna weaves together popular and little-known visual references every season, creating singular looks that are unmistakably Anna. Throughout the exhibition, you see evidence of her vast knowledge of music, movies, interior design, books, time periods, graphic design, art movements, fashion and photography.”
This will certainly be, we’re sure, a must-see for any fashionista, so mark your calendars now.
For more, visit madmuseum.org.
– Mary Shustack
