ANNA SUI

She is an American Fashion Designer and known for her vivid, colorful and cheerful designs.

Born on August 4, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan. She took an interest in fashion at a very young age and began clipping fashion-magazine pages to fill her famous Genius Files. These have served as an inspiration for her line throughout her career.

After moving to New York, she attended The New School's famous art and design college, Parsons The New School for Design.

After leaving The New School, she worked for a variety of junior sportswear companies. During this time she began designing clothing out of her apartment which retailed at locations such as Macy’s and Bloomingdale's.

With the encouragement of friends Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista, Sui launched her first runway show in 1991. "That those professional beauties were then at the height of their fame helped stoke the reception Sui got from buyers and the news media," and also insured industry embrace of a talented niche designer.

Following this incredible reception she opened a retail location at 113 Greene Street in New York City's Soho District. This shop, with its lavender walls, red floors, antique black furniture, and signature dolly head mannequins has become a staple of SOHO fashion and synonymous with the Anna Sui brand.

Journey Back to a Wild and Crazy Time

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times

The Anna Sui store in SoHo celebrates the 1980's and even bits of earlier eras. The music is the Sex Pistols, and the mannequins wear Sally Bowles bobs.

As described in a recent Time article, "The stores have come to emphasize the epitome of culture in a continually shifting fashion world.  " Over her career, the Anna Sui brand has also grown internationally in the American, European, Asian and Middle Eastern Markets.

ANNASUI.COM

Her clothing, fragrance, cosmetic, and accessories lines sell through her stores in over 50 countries and are also widely available in leading department stores worldwide.

Dolly Girl Perfume Gift Set & Live Your Dream Perfum

Secret Wish & Night of Fancy Perfumes

Make Up

Her iconic fashion shows, with their much-anticipated rock music and background designs, routinely pack the Tent at Bryant Park during her prime time Wednesday slot at Fashion Week.

"NEW YORK, September 15, 2010

By Tim Blanks

Anna Sui is s celebrating the 20th birthday of her business and, as the new tome that marks the milestone shows, she has been utterly true to her vision from day one. Her collection today included the baby doll dresses, the handkerchief-hemmed skirts, and the print mixes that have always been part of her work. But the heart of the issue was, as always, Sui's ability to build an extraordinary mythology around her story for the season".

ANNA SUI SS11

Achievements

She was called a designer who "never panders" by The New York Times, and named to Time magazine's list of this decade's top five fashion icons.

In 2009, Sui won the Council of Fashion Designers of America Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, which serves to honor contributions made to American fashion by outstanding individuals in the industry. Sui joins the ranks of Yves St Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Diane von Furstenberg and Bill Blass, who are past recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Anna Sui AW 11/12



In 2008, she was profiled in Newsweek's Women and Leadership, and was recognized for her contribution to fashion at the Bravo A-list Awards. Anna Sui continues to design and manufacture her signature collection in her New York City headquarters on Fashion Avenue. There she has ardently fought to keep the industry alive and has spearheaded a campaign to "Save the Garment Center", which was highlighted during Fashion Week in September 2008.

Anna Sui Feb 2011

In 2006, Fortune magazine estimated the collective value of Anna Sui's fashion empire at over $400 million.
In 2010, she featured her collection on the runway finale of the 14th cycle of America's Next Top Model.

Sui's designs attract many famous clients such as Paris Hilton, Blake Lively, Patricia Arquette, Mischa Barton, Christina Ricci, Cher, Naomi Campbell, Sofia Coppola, Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, Maria Sharapova, Nicole Richie, Liv Tyler, Courtney Love, and James Iha

Taylor Momsen in Anna Sui

Donna Karan is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.

 “I design what I feel is missing from my closet”. Donna Karan

Early life

Karan was born October 2, 1948 as Donna Ivy Faske in Forest Hills, Queens, USA.  She grew up in Woodmere, Long Island, New York, with her stepfather, a tailor, and her mother, a model. Karan started selling clothing on Cedarhurst, New York's Central Avenue at age 14.

She graduated from Hewlett High School in 1966, and then went to the Parsons School of Design (later known as Parsons the New School for Design after it became a division of The New School), for two years. She left to work for Anne Klein.

Anne Klein Sketches, Fabric Swatches & Collection.

Donna Karan International

Karan began her career as an assistant designer with Anne Klein in the late 1960s, where she was eventually promoted to associate designer in 1971. When Anne Klein herself died in 1974, Takihyo Corporation of Japan became the new owner and Karan, together with her former classmate and friend Louis Dell'Ollio, became head designer of the house.

In 1984, Karan left Anne Klein and, together with her then husband Stephan Weiss and Takihyo Corporation, started her own business "to design modern clothes for modern people". She showed her first women's clothing collection in 1985.

Donna Karan Fashion Show in 1985

Karan became well-known for her 'Essentials' line, initially offering seven easy pieces which could all be mixed and matched, and created a fully integrated wardrobe.

Karan always insisted that she would only design clothes, like jersey dresses and opaque Lycra tights, that she would also wear herself.

She was once described in the early 1990s by the New York Times as “[Ed Koch] in a stretchy black dress”.

Donna Karan SS/00  

Donna Karan Styles

DONNA KARAN AW 11

DONNA KARAN ACCESSORIES



DONNA KARAN INTIMATES

In 1988, Karan, nicknamed The Queen Of Seventh Avenue by the time, extended her women's 'Donna Karan New York' line by a less expensive one for younger women, called DKNY, a fast fashion line with an urban bent, that Karan calls it “the pizza to the collection’s caviar.”

DKNY SS 09

Sketches of Hilary Duff's Femme line from DKNY.

DKNY JEANS

DKNY KIDS

DKNY KIDS BOXER SHORTS

DKNY PERFUM BE DELICIOUS

BE DELICIOUS BODY LOTION

D By DKNY WATCH & DKNY BRACELET

DKNY EYEWEAR

DKNY HOME

ISSEY MIYAKE

He is a Creative Director and a Survivor!

Miyake was born 22 April 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan. As a seven year-old, he witnessed and survived the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.  His mother died when he was ten years old from radiation exposure.  He shared his memories for the first time -- something he said he had not done before because he "did not want to be labelled 'the designer who survived the atomic bomb.'"

Issey Miyake asks Obama to visit Hiroshima

TOKYO (AFP) — Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, has urged US President Barack Obama to visit the city on the anniversary of the attack as part of his drive to rid the world of nuclear arms.

"I realized that I have, perhaps now more than ever, a personal and moral responsibility to speak out as one who survived what Mr. Obama called the 'flash of light,'" the designer wrote in an opinion piece published in the International Herald Tribune on Wednesday 15 July.

He said he hoped Obama would accept an invitation by the southern port city to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the bombing on August 6.

"If Mr. Obama could walk across the Peace Bridge in Hiroshima ... it would be both a real and a symbolic step toward creating a world that knows no fear of nuclear threat," the 71-year-old designer added.

"When I close my eyes, I still see things no one should ever experience: a bright red light, the black cloud soon after, people running in every direction trying desperately to escape -- I remember it all," he wrote.
His mother died from radiation exposure within three years of the attack.

The bombing killed an estimated 140,000 people by the end of 1945, either instantly or from radiation or horrific burns, and many more afterwards.

The US dropped a second nuclear bomb on Nagasaki three days later, killing more than 70,000 people. Japan surrendered less than a week later, ending World War II.

Issey Miyake changes artistic direction

Created in 1971 by Issey Miyake, the brand has become a fashion empire made of several subsidiary companies around the world.

Foiled Again

Its founder handed over the business to Naoki Takizawa in 2000 and the latter was replaced by Dai Fujiwara six years later.

SS09

Issey Miyake’s artistic director, in charge of the brand’s men’s and women’s collections for the past 5 years, will be presenting his last catwalk show on Friday the 4th of March. 

Dai Fujiwara is going to pursue another career opportunity, although no details of such have been disclosed.

Dai Fujiwara

The Japanese fashion house should announce its new artistic director by the month April 11.

Issey Miyake SS11 RTW

Issey Miyake SS11 Menswear

Issey Miyake AW11 RTW

Issey Miyake AW11 Menswear

ISSEY MIYAKE WATCHES

ISSEY MIYAKE PERFUM

Evian sources Issey Miyake for new limited edition bottle.

It is the Japanese brand’s turn to design a new special edition Evian water bottle. Following in the path of Christian Lacroix, Jean Paul Gaultier and Paul Smith, the series continues with Issey Miyake’s flowery bottle, inspired by his famous Pleats Please range.

Evian bottle customised by Issey Miyake

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V&A 

PLEATS PLEASE by Issey Miyake

Featured Collection – Spring/Summer 2001

Pleats Please collections were first launched in 1993. Made from single pieces of high quality 100% polyester fabric, the innovation behind Pleats Please are that the clothes are first cut and sewn together two-and-a-half to three times larger than the finished garments. Individual pieces are hand fed into a heat press sandwiched between two sheets of paper. The garment then emerges with permanent pleats. This industrial process allows both texture and form to be created at the same time. Vertical, horizontal and zig-zag pleating is used to create varying effects and architectural shapes.

Pleats Please clothes are very functional and practical; the garments store easily, travel well, require no ironing and can be machine-washed and dried within minutes. Shapes are simple, colours diverse. A set of standard colours is available each season, to which are added seasonal colours and prints.



The Spring/Summer 2001 collection celebrates the world of natural light and shadow and includes the following ranges: Stitch Denim, Flower Garden, Stripe Montage and Side Wave.

1) Stitch Denim range: Jeans, Shirt and T-Shirt
2) Flower Garden range: White Vest and Trousers, Mesh Skirt, Tunic and Cardigan and Stole
3) Stripe Montage range: Luminous Vest and Trousers, Vest and Stole 4) Stripe Montage range: Pink Trousers, Dress and Stole
5) Standard Black Pleats: Long Coat, Long Dress and Madame T Stole
6) Side Wave range: Black Vest, Skirt and Cape.