Her first-ever headline stands true. Anna Sui's Spring 2027 was reminder that the downtown darling's world of wonderment is forever original.
By Unknown
Published
Anna Sui couldn’t be described as anything other than herself. On April 12th, 1991, the day after her first-ever show, The New York Times attempted to summarize her runway debut. The headline read: “Anna Sui’s Slam-Bang Look: A Wistful Glance at the 60’s.” The first line? “There was a multiple fashion collision Wednesday evening. It looked as if Sly and the Family Stone crashed into Coco Chanel and then got rear-ended by Christian Lacroix.” The writer wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t exactly the 60’s, or Chanel, or Lacroix. It was just Anna Sui. 35 years later—at the designers' Spring 2027 show—Sui’s world still stands out as its own. It’s slam-bang as ever.
The Saturday show took place at the National Arts Club, where Marc Jacobs arrived early. Jacobs first met Sui in the 1980s at the Charivari boutique, where allegedly, Sui noticed Jacobs as a stylish store employee. Vera Wang, who was an editor at Vogue when she first met Sui in the 1980s, also sat in the front row. The Blondie singer Debbie Harry, who met Sui while she was a student at Parsons and immersed in the downtown punk scene, sat beside Jacobs. That’s just the top layer of lore surrounding Sui.
The show opened with “Heaven Tonight” by Hole, the American rock band formed by Courtney Love. Immediately the audience is reminded of Sui’s music-adjacency and grunge beat. The first look is an offering of layers: black lace leggings underneath a lilac silk skirt overlaid with a black lace a-line dress. It’s an introduction to Wonderment, Sui’s source of inspiration for the collection. She was most inspired by fairytales, specifically, a 1972 Vogue issue that featured the fantastical paintings by the artist Howard Gardiner Cushing. “It’s that moment when you discover something you’ve never seen before,” Sui says of the collection title, Wonderment. “It just takes you down a rabbit hole.”
A white eyelet Victorian tunic and matching floor-length skirt swept across the runway. A cap-sleeved lace-up denim corset paired with lace-embroidered low-rise trousers and a white studded belt followed. A ruched light pink floral top layered over hot pink lace and a silk floral midi skirt came next. A silk periwinkle bralette over a sheer black longsleeve shirt was paired with a plaid midi skirt, also topped with a studded belt. Every look offered some combination of sheerness, floral silks, layered plaid, studs, and lace. It’s nonsensical in theory and perfect in execution. It’s grunge, feminine, rock and roll, and romantic all at once.
Inside the booklet on every guest’s seat, after the show notes, is the show’s tracklist. It’s no surprise—music has always been part of Sui’s story. She even once curated a playlist highlighting songs from every show she’s ever done since 1991. “I would say it’s a list of all my favorite songs,” she said. “Because every song I use in my show, most of the time there’s a personal affiliation with it.” For this show, she included “Burning Out” by The Linda Lindas, “Today” by The Smashing Pumpkins, “Lovefool” by the Cardigans, “He Needs Me” by The Females (the girlies were head bobbing to this one especially), and for the finale, “Starburster” by Fontaines D.C.
Sui once said, “You can define an era by clothes.” But her Spring 2027 collection is more than clothes—its a world. It’s her world. And while her collections have always paid homage to specific eras, her namesake brand extends beyond time and place. Rather, it’s a compilation of memories. It’s a poignant tale of a life rich in culture, music, and the arts. Slam-bang might be the best way to describe Anna Sui’s lavender, lace, punk fairytale, one that is continually reborn through her very own sense of wonder.
