"If you re going to have a show, then have a show," said Anna Sui, gearing up in her office about a week before her Belle Époque extravaganza. It was obvious how much the designer—happy among her stacks of books, inspiration boards, and piles of 1890 s-inspired jewelry from Erickson Beamon—enjoyed the process. Not that Sui wasn t mindful of the economy. She noted that she had made careful fabric choices to ensure that everything remained at a comfortable price point. But Sui, and the girl she dresses, does like to have fun. As front-row guest Taylor Momsen, an ideal member of the Sui demographic, put it: She has "a different kind of spark."
What lit Sui s imagination was Proust and the Paris of the Gay Nineties. She looked at pictures of its grandes horizontales and its art, as well as of Yves Saint Laurent s country retreat, where every room was named after a character in Remembrance of Things Past. The research resulted in a demimondaine s boudoir vibe (rose prints and velvet trims) with accents of more sober Rive Droite propriety (black velvet and soutache trim).
There was a lot of black—enlivened by lots of pattern, naturally—in a collection that was overlong and not without its heavy-handed moments. There was also a splashy saffron cardigan with rhinestone trim, a relatively tame brushed-wool plaid coat for the fainter of heart, and some great boots. It will be hard to decide between the colorful over-the-knee style and Sui s amazingly chic challenge to the Ugg boot. Way to kick it, Anna.
