Designer Anna Sui is often framed as a 1990s darling. As interest in that decade’s fashion and culture has surged, she has become something of a present-day darling, as well.
There is a traveling exhibition chronicling her artistic process, along with a recently published book revisiting her work in the 90s.
Old Navy introduced a collaboration with Anna last fall, just months after the release of a Barbie doll made in her likeness.
Her designs – girlish, preppy and grungy at once – have proliferated on resale platforms including Depop and the RealReal.
They have also been embraced by Gen-Z celebrities including Olivia Rodrigo, Lola Tung and Addison Rae – none of whom were born when Anna first became a star in the New York fashion world and beyond.
On Feb 14, Anna will show her Autumn/Winter 2026 collection at New York Fashion Week.
Though cultural nostalgia has played a role in the recent "Anna Sui-assance", there are other forces behind it.
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A new generation of Sui family members – who once sat cross-legged on the floor at Anna’s shows – has helped the designer and her namesake label reach a new audience.
Isabelle Sui, 31, is the brand’s vice president, overseeing the business and developing growth strategies.
Jeannie Sui Wonders, 32, has had a hand in the visual identity of the brand by shooting some of its campaigns and product imagery.
Chase Sui Wonders, 29, the actress known for her roles in The Studio and Bodies Bodies Bodies, is the label’s de facto brand ambassador, appearing in campaigns and wearing Anna Sui on-screen and on red carpets.
“It’s just great being able to work with all of them and have them part of this,” said Anna, 73, who grew up in the suburbs of Detroit.
Her business, which she started in 1981, is small. There are 30 employees, but that was not always the case.
“For so many years, it was kind of lonely,” said Anna, whose brother, Robert Sui, has also worked for her company, overseeing its finances.
It is a point of pride for Anna that, after more than four decades, she is still the sole owner of her brand. She has watched peers – Marc Jacobs, Kate Spade and Tommy Hilfiger among them – sell their namesake brands, or stakes in them, to other companies.
“In the 2000s, everything became so corporate,” she said. “I don’t have a boss that’s stepping on my head saying, ‘Bottom line, bottom line.’”
That independence has allowed Anna to keep some of her manufacturing in the garment district of Manhattan, long after many American designers moved their operations outside the US to factories in Latin America and Asia, where labour and materials are generally less expensive.
It has also allowed her to control the quantity of clothing her brand produces.
“Why make 200 pieces of something and you’re only going to sell 75?” she said. “What do you do with the rest?”
Independence has also given Sui control over who will help to steer her brand into the future.
Her niece Isabelle’s first role at Anna Sui was as an intern, in 2010. She formally joined the company in 2020, after working at Live Nation.
“What I really admire with Anna is that she does always put family first,” said Isabelle, who last year earned a master’s degree in business at UCLA.
“She’s going to understand business way better than I ever did,” Anna said of Isabelle.
As vice president of Anna Sui, Isabelle oversees digital strategy, retail collaborations and direct-to-consumer growth.
“We’re a small company, so I would say everyone doesn’t just wear one hat,” she said. “We’re all supporting each other and learning different things.”
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Sky Pollard, Nuuly’s head of product, said Anna Sui was one of the most popular brands among the platform’s users, most of whom are younger than 35.
Anna’s niece Jeannie, who holds a degree in art history and film from Harvard University, started working for Anna Sui in 2018 as the brand’s creative digital director.
Her work has included photographing ecommerce imagery, organising other photo shoots and directing video ad campaigns.
“We have such a shorthand,” Jeannie said of her relationship with Anna. “I know her world so well.”
Jeannie, who left her full-time role at Anna Sui in 2021, has also done creative work for brands including Sandy Liang, Rhode and Dr. Martens. She is currently focusing on two film projects, but occasionally still works on shoots for her aunt’s brand.
One of the videos she directed for Anna Sui was to promote a collection that Anna designed in partnership with designer Batsheva Hay.
The video starred Jeannie’s younger sister, Chase, who also graduated from Harvard with a film degree.
Chase, who described her aunt’s clothes as “transportive”, has worn them at premieres and film festivals, and in shows such as Genera+ion, an HBO Max dramedy about high schoolers that aired for one season in 2021.
“It’s like I’m wearing a family crest,” Chase said about wearing Anna Sui.
When she does so on red carpets, she added that “there’s no formal contract or anything".
"It’s more just me repping my aunt. And I prefer that. It doesn’t feel, you know, so commodified like that.”
A sense of levity, Anna said, has always been something she has valued as a designer. So has affordability: She has focused on making clothes priced between luxury and mass brands.
Dresses sold by Anna Sui, for example, can start at more than US$800 (approximately RM3,145); on sale, their prices can drop to about US$200 (RM786).
This positioning has made the label both aspirational and accessible.
“I’m not buying couture-price fabric, and I’m not buying pure cashmere,” Sui said. “I like fashion to be fun and affordable, and it’s always been that. It can’t be too much fun if it’s too expensive.” – ©2026 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
