Dec, 11, 2024
Fashion DesignSpecial Engagement Exhibitions
Phoenix Art Museum presents major exhibition of rock-and-roll inspired fashions by Anna Sui
The World of Anna Sui immerses audiences in the pop-culture universe of the iconic American designer
PHOENIX (December 9, 2024) – On April 13, 2025, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) presents its newest major fashion exhibition, The World of Anna Sui, which travels to Phoenix from the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. The expansive display features more than 100 ensembles, including looks from Sui’s personal archive, fashions from her newest collection, and various objects and ensembles from the Museum’s renowned fashion collection selected in collaboration with the designer. The World of Anna Sui will be on view at PhxArt from April 13 – September 28, 2025.
“Anna Sui defined a fashion generation, and Phoenix Art Museum is pleased to present The World of Anna Sui—exploring the impact of this extraordinary designer,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “In the 1990s, Anna Sui was one of the driving forces behind the decade’s now-iconic style, many of which inspire today’s Gen Z trends. Ever since, she has continued to shape the fashion landscape, building an elaborate, imaginative universe that draws inspiration from grunge music, goth aesthetics, romanticism, and more. In addition, we are excited to present an expanded version of this incredible archival exhibition through the collaboration between Anna and Helen Jean, Jacquie Dorrance, Curator of Fashion, curating select objects from the PhxArt Collection to appear in conversation with Anna’s award-winning work.”
Raised outside of Detroit and now based in New York, Anna Sui taps into the timeless nostalgia and romanticism of contemporary fashion’s earlier days and pairs it with her signature rocker aesthetic. Since premiering her first runway show in 1991, Sui has launched over 80 collections of ready-to-wear garments, accessories, cosmetics, and fragrances through her independent brand, effectively popularizing the boutique fashion look. Through head to toe looks, she has created a graphic universe inhabited by alter-egos from the worlds of cowgirls, grunge girls, hippie chicks, hula girls, Mods, pirate rock stars, Pre-Raphaelite maidens, and surfer nomads.Sui’s designs have been brought to life on the runway by models such as Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Gigi Hadid, and have been worn by Anne Hathaway, Zooey Deschanel, Madonna, and other pop-culture icons. Her work was also featured in the 2019 high fashion exhibition Camp at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The World of Anna Sui features more than 100 ensembles from the renowned designer’s archive, presenting a roll call of 12 archetypes that are staples of the Sui aesthetic. Spanning garments and accessories, to hair styles and makeup, to scent and sound, the exhibition explores in minute detail the materials, cultural obsessions, and global styles that have inspired Sui for decades. As a special addition to the exhibition, PhxArt will present looks from Sui’s recent collections between F/W 2019 and F/W 2024 that show the designer’s ongoing experimentalism as she continues to embrace new materials into her universe of design. A unique example of this is Sui’s use of metallized paper material in her S/S 2024 collection, which is similar to special works in the Museum’s fashion collection. The designer has also been invited to select works from the Museum’s renowned collection that exemplify the spirit and aesthetics from which she draws creative inspiration.
“Anna Sui is a self-taught historian of culture, art, and fashion, and a true master at threading narratives and aesthetics from seemingly conflicting genres into her designs,” said Helen Jean, the Museum’s Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion. “Visitors to the exhibition will discover how her work samples elements of popular music, books, movies, and art movements, while referencing wide-ranging fashion trends from sportswear to army surplus jackets to Japanese hankies and qipao dresses. The World of Anna Sui is a pure visual delight, with incredible pop-culture history woven throughout, and is yet another powerful opportunity to see how fashion designers absorb, reference, and engage with the defining styles and social movements of our collective past and present.”
High-resolution photography for The World of Anna Sui can be downloaded here. To request interviews, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at 602.257.2117 or samantha.santos@phxart.org.
About the Exhibition
The World of Anna Sui is organized by the Fashion and Textile Museum, London, and curated by Dennis Nothdruft, Head of Exhibitions at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London. Its presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Helen Jean, The Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion, with Catherine Wise, the Hirabayashi Intern in Fashion. In-kind support provided by KJZZ.
The World of Anna Sui at Phoenix Art Museum is presented by Thomas Carlton Rogers II, Jacquie Dorrance/The Dorrance Family Foundation, Arizona Costume Institute, and The Kelly Ellman Fashion Endowment Fund.
Additional support provided by Tran Tran/AXIS Employment Services. In-kind support provided by KJZZ.
All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
Admission is free for Museum Members; youth aged 5 and younger; and Maricopa County Community Colleges students. Entrance into the exhibition is included in general admission for the public. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays from 3 – 8 pm, made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix. For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit/.
About Phoenix Art Museum
Since 1959, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) has engaged millions of visitors with the art of our region and world. Located in Phoenix’s Central Corridor, PhxArt creates spaces of exchange and belonging for all audiences through dynamic exhibitions, collections, and experiences with art. Each year, 300,000 guests on average engage with critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions and the Museum’s collection of more than 21,000 works of American and Western American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern, and contemporary art and fashion design, along with vibrant photography exhibitions made possible through the Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson. PhxArt also presents live performances, outstanding examples of global cinema, arts-education programs and workshops, an art+music festival, and more for the community. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.
About Anna Sui
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. She 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 suites and big shoulder pads, in favor of a more relaxed silhouette that reflected the values of youth culture.
Sui has received numerous awards, including the CFDA Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent (1992) and the CFDA Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award (2009). She is also a passionate advocate for New York’s Garment District. She is a first-generation Chinese American and came of age in a suburb of Detroit.