Anna Sui Fall 2024
Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, well-heeled characters of mysterious Whodunnits and the Charleston House of the infamous Bloomsbury group: Anna Sui brought the eccentric, vintage-loving literary muse to life with her fall 2024 runway show. The show took place inside one of New York City’s most extravagant locations for literary lovers: The Rare Book Room at The Strand.
The smell of old books filled the room as Marc Jacobs, Sofia Coppola and Debbie Harry took their seats. Mixing subversive elements of the 1960s and juxtaposing them with 1920s, she created a collection evocative of any thriftstore lover’s dream. So much styling inspiration to take advantage of: little scarves tied around the head, slip dresses layered over silky blouses and checkered pants, sequined opera gloves and matching caps, argyle socks with midi skirts and those incredible, big tapestry bags carried in the crooks of elbows. So deliciously right now and so inherently Anna Sui.
The prints represented an explosion of bohemianism and Art Nouveau wonders. And the colors of the clothing melded with the earthy reds, browns and greens of the leather bound books, but Sui said the inspiration behind all these rich hues was Clarice Cliff, a woman potter who created ceramics for working women during the 1920s and 1930s. Virginia Woolf’s impactful book covers influenced the darker palette.
Those little crushed velvet dresses with Poor Things-era puff sleeves mixed with knee-high socks are everything. Layer, layer, layer, according to Anna–from the hat (with a scarf underneath) to vests and cargo pants and sweaters. Shopping vintage has never been more mainstream, but the die-hards lately (myself included) have been very much into shopping antique, pre-1970s fashion. I recently just bought some 1920s tulle dresses in the most beautiful shade of fuzzy peach. Clearly, Sui has picked up on the feeling of fashion’s biggest fans embracing the singular colors and incredible textures of the pre-internet past like never before. The touchable fabrics and blooming hues in this collection defy wow-factor far beyond our screens.
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