Anna Sui

They don't need me to be another Establishment designer. That's not what I'm good at...

— Anna Sui

With the way that the times are, we're all looking for a little fantasy... Fantasy is such an important part of my fashion...

— Anna Sui

I'm always about optimism and exuberance. It's what I feel about fashion.

— Anna Sui

Longing and desire goes further than instant satisfaction. That's human nature.

— Anna Sui

The sexiest thing about a bikini is that it leaves something to the imagination, which is the best part.

— Anna Sui

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.

— Anna Sui

Every time that I wanted to give up, if I saw an interesting textile, print what ever, suddenly I would see a collection.

— Anna Sui

To stand out in the crowd I liked the color purple.

— Anna Sui

I read about two young ladies that went to Parsons, and when they graduated Elizabeth Taylor opened a store for them in Paris and I thought okay-that's all I have to do!

— Anna Sui

I think a dream can take you farther than anything.

— Anna Sui

I think that I appeal to the girliness in all of us.

— Anna Sui

The man that owned the company that I worked for called me into the office and said how can you be on our payroll and have your own New York Times ad! This has to stop! And I said but it can't I have orders to ship. And he said well you're fired. And that's how I started my business.

— Anna Sui

You have to be in the right place at the right time and understand that and know when it is your time and how you react to it and how you respond to it.

— Anna Sui

I love research. I love learning...

— Anna Sui

To me, fashion is like a mirror... It's a reflection of the times. And if it doesn't reflect the times, it's not fashion. Because people aren't gonna be wearing it.

— Anna Sui

I think whenever people talk about the 'Anna Sui woman,' they're talking about someone that's probably kind of more downtown, and there's always like this ambiguity: Is she a good girl, or a bad girl?

— Anna Sui

"It's kind of a dream come true, because to me fashion is not just the clothes, it's all the accoutrements that go with it...

— Anna Sui

I live for fashion.

— Anna Sui

I love the whole story of why something happened when it did and that’s what I put into the collections.

— Anna Sui

I don’t answer to anyone.

— Anna Sui

We do all the first samples here and all the production in the garment center, within these few blocks... I love the process.

— Anna Sui

... I am a New York designer and the things are made in New York...

— Anna Sui

I grew up in Middle America and in the suburbs...

— Anna Sui

American television is popular everywhere and its what I grew up on.

— Anna Sui

Be true to yourself and figure out what it is that you are good at.

— Anna Sui

I was always attracted to the way rock stars dressed and the way their girlfriends dressed.

— Anna Sui

When I am designing, I make a selection of music that will be the inspiration behind the whole collection... I will be blasting that music—it becomes a journey I take in my brain to transfer that sound to the clothing.

— Anna Sui

I love history. I love art. I like to mix it all together, but in the end it somehow has to all make sense.

— Anna Sui

I had a really typical, suburban, middle-class upbringing. The only thing out of the ordinary was being one of the few Chinese families in town.

— Anna Sui

I am inspired by New York...

— Anna Sui

My main goal when I started my collection – and I didn’t think beyond this actually – was that I wanted to dress rock stars and the people that go to rock concerts.

— Anna Sui

We picked up Madonna at The Ritz to go to the Gaultier show together, and she took off her coat. At this point she hadn’t even said a word to me, but she leaned over and said to me, Anna, I have a surprise for you, and she showed me she was wearing my dress.

— Anna Sui

I’ve known a lot of talented people but the people that really, really, achieve success – there is ambition, focus and drive behind it.

— Anna Sui

I bought a fur coat with my first pay cheque and it lived better than I did for years.

— Anna Sui

People create their own obstacles.

— Anna Sui

...all the formulas have flown out of the window.

— Anna Sui