At the turn of the decade in 1990, a young designer named Anna Sui and her close friend and fashion photographer Steven Meisel were parading around Paris for Fashion week.Their first stop before heading over to the Spring/Summer 1991 Jean Paul Gaultier show was the iconic Ritz Hotel to pick up Madonna. As the three settled into the front row, Madonna, seated next to Sui, turned to her and whispered, “Anna, I have a surprise for you.” 

Underneath her coat was an Anna Sui baby doll dress in black chiffon. The “Material Girl,” who could have worn anything in the world, had chosen one of Sui’s. It was a turning point — one that set the tone for the decade to come, as Sui’s shows would soon feel less like runways and more like rock concerts. 

The cover of Sui’s new book, The Nineties x Anna Sui, captures the spirit of that era perfectly. Throughout the decade, the Anna Sui name stood out as an outlier at New York Fashion Week — playful, detailed, and deeply connected to youth culture and the grunge uprising. 

One particular moment came in 1994, when Interview Magazine featured Zoe Cassavetes, Roman Coppola, and Sofia Coppola dressed as punk cheerleaders — fishnet tights and key-and-lock jewelry repurposed as belts, over a classic cheerleader uniform was Sui’s spin on the grunge trend in the ’90s. In the book, Sofia Coppola said, “When Marc Jacobs and Anna [Sui] started doing shows, all of a sudden it was like the kids were in charge, and they made clothes that spoke to us – it wasn’t our mom’s generation.” 

Photo by Marina Lee

In her book, Sui delves deeper into those early years, when the fashion industry still felt like an intimate community built on word of mouth. As she put it, “It just happened … organically.” The New School Free Press caught up with Anna Sui over Zoom following the launch of The Nineties to discuss the makings of the Anna Sui name. 

When you first started designing, what did you want to capture in your designs?

AS: I wanted to dress rock stars and rock stars’ girlfriends, and people [who] went to see rock bands … right out of school, I was making clothes and selling them to little [music] boutiques … then I had two friends [whom] I knew from the punk rock days, and they did punk rock jewelry … so we all did a boutique show together … And suddenly my business just turned into something else.

What year was that? 

AS: It was still in the late ’80s. It was during the whole new wave period.

Any fun anecdotes for the readers about The Supers or other moments in your book that stood out to you? 

AS: I knew Linda [Evangelista], Christy [Turlington], Naomi [Campbell], even before they walked for me. I knew them socially because of Steven [Meisel] … so when we got back from Paris, Steven said, ‘Okay, now it’s time for you to do a show.’ I’m like, ‘How am I going to do that?’ He said, ‘We’ll help you.’ And so Linda and Naomi helped me get all the other models. It was all word of mouth, and suddenly, I had all those great models in my show.

Photo by Marina Lee

Is it true you had live performances?

AS: I don’t think I ever did a live band because it’s not that easy … [but] we had films projected during the runway show. My folk-inspired collection. I really loved the way all the … East Coast students were dressing during the protest music, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan … [coincidentally] I moved apartments, and my neighbor across the hall had done a film in the ’70s … about Bob Dylan going electric, and it was the Newport Folk Festival when he caused that scandal … So he edited a version of his film and we projected it on the runway.

When designing at Parsons, what advice did you follow to be successful?

AS: The most important thing is you have to figure out what it is that you love. What is it that [will] set you aside from everybody else … I think you have to learn your craft, and learn your resources.

For most of Gen Z, nostalgia for the nineties and nostalgia in general is the opiate of the masses. Can you provide insight into what the ’60s were to your generation and how you kept that spirit alive in the ’90s? 

AS: I missed out on the best of it … I wished I had seen the Beatles walking down King’s Road … I wish I had gone to their boutique, Apple Boutique … all those like British designers that were really breaking through and becoming international, everybody was wearing their clothes … that’s like my chimera. 

Photo by Marina Lee

Could Gen Z be longing for the ’90s the same way Coppola and Cassavetes longed for the kids to be in charge again? 

The resurgence of ’90s nostalgia began with Sui’s nieces. “They would wear their mom’s stuff from the ’90s at Thanksgiving,” Sui said. Joan Bedor, buyer at Reminicence, said, “The ’90s are definitely coming back.” 

With the release of The Nineties, Sui invites you with a front-row seat to her defining decade, and it reinforces what we already know — the ’90s are back and they are here to stay.