Before she ever staged a runway show, Madonna wore one of her dresses.
Some of the world's most famous supermodels helped launch her into the spotlight.
And Anna Sui went on to build an internationally recognized fashion label rooted in music, vintage style, and her own imagination.
But before New York Fashion Week, there was metro Detroit — Hudson's fabric counters, rock concerts, and a teenager sewing her own clothes. Now, her work is coming home.
“The World of Anna Sui” opens Wednesday, October 21 at Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills. The exhibition celebrates more than four decades of her work, featuring over 100 looks from her collections.
Sui’s visual language, full of sumptuous colors, textures, and attention to detail, formed one of the most iconic global portfolios of the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond. In Sui’s world, shape evokes history while telling a modern story, whether in a jet-beaded corset top, riffs on the babydoll dress with glitzy cowgirl stylings, or bright bohemian prints reminiscent of midcentury style, twisted into a contemporary sarong.
Sui told the story of Madonna’s 1991 star turn at a Jean Paul Gaultier show in Paris, stunning the crowd with Sui’s off-shoulder black babydoll dress.
“Moments before that,” Sui said, “we had been at the Ritz, picking her up from her room, and the room was filled with shopping bags and racks of clothes from every Parisian designer … I just thought … ‘People are just, throwing their things at her.’”
In addition to introducing Sui’s work to a global audience, she said the day boosted her confidence.
“It really helped me feel like maybe I could go into that arena," Sui said.
Growing up in metro Detroit, Sui was a regular in department stores like Hudson’s, soaking up trends and observing how they worked, but also spent her nights seeing artists such as Iggy Pop, Led Zeppelin, and the MC5.
“It was so formative for me because when I decided I wanted to do fashion, I wanted to design clothes for people that went to rock concerts and for rock stars," she said. "That was, kind of, my focus in the beginning. But then it kind of changed once I started selling to different stores and understanding what their formulas were and really getting more and more involved in fashion. It was very, very important in my thinking.”
Chief Curator Laura Mott collaborated on adapting the exhibition (which originated at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London) for its time at Cranbrook.
"Genres of music,” Mott said, “play a critical role in Anna's artistic inspirations, from punk and grunge to mod and psychedelic rock. Seeing the exhibition here highlights the cultural environment that helped shape her creative vision."
Through the changes in her career, Sui has maintained longstanding creative partnerships, including with Detroit-founded jewelry company Erickson Beamon. Designer Karen Erickson has worked with Sui since her first runway show, creating jewelry inspired by Sui's fabrics, colors, and collections. Her Detroit connections also include musician Jack White and Third Man Records, for which she designed uniforms.
“We developed this whole family of people that really supported me through all these years of doing runway shows,” Sui said.
In addition to the Cranbrook exhibition, Sui is planning pop-up shops in Detroit, including one at Third Man Records.
“I'm thrilled because I have, still, so many roots here,” she said.
The World of Anna Sui opens October 21 at Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, and will be on view through February 28, 2027.
Hear Anna Sui's full conversation with Stateside host April Baer on Tuesday, October 20.
