Anna Sui is one of New York’s most beloved and accomplished fashion designers, known for creating contemporary original clothing inspired by spectacular amounts of research into vintage styles and cultural arcana. Sui joined New York’s intensely creative cultural underground in the 1970s, forging important relationships in the worlds of fashion, photography, art, music, and design. Anna Sui, a first-generation Chinese American, came of age in a white Catholic suburb of Detroit, the career of Anna Sui is a classic American success story. "You have to focus on your dreams, even if they go beyond common sense. How could this young girl from the suburbs of Detroit become a success in New York? It was always that dream," she says. Sui was part of a generation of fashion designers who remade American style in the 1990s. Together with Marc Jacobs, Isaac Mizrahi, Todd Oldham, and Vivienne Tam, she rejected 1980s power dressing, with its corporate suits and big shoulder pads, in favor of a more relaxed silhouette that reflected the values of youth culture. Since her premiere runway show in 1991, Sui has produced eighty-four collections, and she remains at the helm of her independent brand. Her label has grown to include accessories, cosmetics, and interiors, and she operates boutiques in the United States and Asia. A passionate advocate for New York’s Garment District, she has located her business and produced most of her fashion lines here in New York City for the past thirty-eight years.