“How can a fur coat get out of style? A skunk smells the same today as he did in 1906,” is a line from the film Easy Living, and just one of many late 1930s American screwball comedies Anna Sui referenced for her Fall/Winter 2025 show. As she retells the film’s synopsis—a wealthy banker tosses his wife’s fur coat off a rooftop, which lands on a stenographer’s head and sparks town-talk that she’s his mistress— she points to its poster pinned to a wall-sized vision board in her showroom in the garment district. The board, covered in fabric swatches, pattern samples, and vintage photos, feels almost stereotypically designer, every detail connected with forensic precision, as if multiple red strings traced back to one undeniable source of intrigue: heiresses.
Being a true heiress takes more than inheriting oil money and burning it all away—it’s about embodying the role, sartorially. The once effortless art of slipping into inherited furs, layering on jewels, and bathing in pearls before a gala has become a lost ritual. In its place, something far less romantic takes shape: the strained nepo baby-to-influencer or DJ pipeline. But Anna Sui, with her love for all things fantastical, draws inspiration from icons like Peggy Guggenheim, Doris Duke, and Barbara Hutton for her latest collection, Madcap Heiress. And this collection doesn’t just pay homage to their style—it also channels the rich and complex stories of their lives.
“I like the idea of escapism. I like heiresses because they spent all their money on jewels and just lived the life,” says Anna Sui. Fantasy has been the thread weaving through her collections for over 43 years in the fashion industry—and perhaps it’s what keeps her returning season after season. While her work pens a distinct signature—whether it’s her mix of patterns, eclectic styling, or love of big hats—Sui is quick to clarify, “I don’t compare any collection to a former one.” Her focus is always forward: “I just think about what clothes I want to make now because I think you have to be relevant.”
That outlook has, perhaps, positioned her as a quiet authority among Gen Z. “I love the way this generation is embracing vintage,” she says. Just in 2023, it was reported by Statista, that over 80% of Gen Z are open to or already shop for secondhand clothes. Her designs naturally resonate with Gen Z’s intrigue towards aesthetics and sentimentality of the past. “I love nostalgia, but bringing back some of the 90s pieces wasn’t my idea,” Sui admits. She’s been diving into her archives for re-releases more often than expected, driven by overwhelming requests from retailers like Opening Ceremony and Ssense, as well as celebrities like Olivia Rodrigo and the band Katseye. Even Marc Jacobs personally asked her to revive 10 pieces from former collections for his grunge line. But it was her nieces who truly pushed her to revisit the past: “Auntie Annie, you should bring back this style—it’s so cool,” she recalls them saying. And with that, Sui found herself looking back, one last time.
At 60 years old, she seems to grow more current and culturally attuned with age. The first thing she does each morning is “read Vogue,” followed shortly after with “doom scrolling on Instagram.” She does this not only for her own personal enjoyment, like most, but for the betterment of her business. “Where do you think I’ve been?” she laughs when responding to my surprise of her scrolling habits. “I’m my customer, my mom’s my customer, and my nieces are my customers. So that’s three generations. I think there’s something for everyone within the collection,” she says. “I’ve always thought that way because I’m selling on Ssense and in department stores. It’s different customers.”
When asked what keeps her in an industry often painted as “toxic” and criticized for its racial adversity, lack of body diversity, and social politics, she answers, “I don’t have that outlook, I love this industry.” She continues, “I’m a minority, I’m a woman, I’m independent, so that’s never been an obstacle for me. It’s only ever been a strength.” What fuels her return is the “excitement in fashion,” she says. “I love new fashion. I love the change. I love seeing what everyone else is doing, so I would never call this industry toxic. That’s not my take on it.” With no plans to slow down anytime soon or be held back by anyone, even as she approaches her 44th year, she leads with optimism as she continues “moving with the times.”
“It used to be about deciding what to put in the store window and what to feature in ads. Now, it’s all about magazines and Instagram,” she says. These days, fashion shows aren’t just for press and buyers. Sui reflects on how her brand went global through connections with buyers in Japan and licensing in Germany, but now the runway is built to be captured by one device: the iPhone. Many brands have already become privy to the power of the smartphone, Jacquemus even recently shot his whole campaign and runways show solely on iPhone, “We can place iPhones in places where we usually would not be able to have [a camera],” Porte Jacquemus told to Vogue. “We can place an iPhone to reflect off of a mirror which adds a lot of poetry, it’s really nice.”With many brands using magazine’s social media platforms to live stream their show, it seems as if social media and filling influencers in the front row are central to fashion week.She looks back on moments in the ’90s where “they had to raise the [runway] platform because the photographers were blocking the models.” When constructing the scene of her shows, year after year, it “always evolves depending on what the technology of the moment is.”
At the National Art House, a country club in Flatiron, the 1880s stained-glass dome and Victorian Gothic architecture provided the perfect backdrop for any iPhone video, capturing the stylistic intersection of a 1940s Upper East Side wife and a 2013 Lower East Side party girl. Models walked in faux mink fur jackets atop handmade tweed sweaters and mismatched skirts. English riding jackets were paired with fur boleros, suede knee-length coats were worn with large, floppy cheetah-printed hats, and knit shirts complimented sequined tights. All 39 looks, ranging from day to night wear, embraced a “maximalist style,” which she says “I excel at.”
After four decades and yet another collection down, Anna Sui still holds onto one simple goal: “I’m really trying to make beautiful clothes,” she says. With plans to move beyond the “safe, minimalist phase,” we’re all going through in fashion, Sui believes, “we’re about to explode in the other direction.” And yet, she continues to find awe in the unpredictability and fleeting trends of it all, “It’s a pendulum. That’s fashion.” Even when others might tire of the constant change, at 60 years old, Sui is still rolling with the punches.