PSA: There’s a new Anna Sui perfume on the market, one that celebrates the intriguing Anna Sui universe of wonders through a fruity and floral friendship of notes.
What we love about each Anna Sui scent is the way it transforms you with a single spritz. Some call it magic, but there’s plenty of that in the designer’s creative universe.
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Exploring the Anna Sui universe
So, if you feel transformed after a spritz of Anna Sui’s fragrance, Sky, it is no accident. The scent was inspired by the idea of taking flight and the hot-air balloon bottle takes you on a journey from the start. It is clear that this adventure will be like no other as the scent transports you to the magical and whimsical world of the New York-based designer.
Sui’s universe was a deliberate creation to foster the idea of fantasy and create a sense of belonging. In her world, anyone can experience a reprieve from reality and escape a mundane existence. Every item she creates is an invitation to join her on a journey through this universe. It is this irresistible fantasy, embodied in all her creations, that people love to connect with.
This is how, in a world of fashion and design where it can feel like everything has been done, Sui still manages to surprise with her other-worldly uniqueness. Her work has always been unapologetically different and her motto is simply: “You have to be who you are.” She believes that being true to yourself is essential and that there is no point in trying to change who you are, as it never works.
Sky, a quintessential Anna Sui perfume
Perhaps it is in her perfume collection where the whimsical world of Anna Sui finds expression like none other. This part of the Sui universe is inhabited by other-worldly creatures, a place where mermaids, fairies, and unicorns adorn perfume bottles. One of her most popular additions, Sky, invites you on a hot-air balloon adventure, attempting to transport your imagination and make your dreams take flight. With this scent, Sui wanted to help women unlock their ambition and find the inspiration to make their dreams a reality.
For the creation of Sky, Sui collaborated with French perfumer Jean Jacques who was immediately taken by the dream world of Anna Sui. For him it represents an ethereal and spontaneous femininity. For Sky, he drew inspiration from bright, white flowers and added a modern twist. He imagined the fragrance of lily of the valley rising to the sky and getting burnt by the sun and then suddenly popping to become popcorn. This unique description of the fragrance can be experienced as you journey through the olfactory range.
Travel through Anna Sui perfume scentverse
Anna Sui perfume Sky is a fruity-floral, gourmand fragrance that opens with welcoming top notes of fresh pear combined with bergamot and pink peppercorn, creating an energetic and lively aura.
Traveling to the heart note, lily of the valley evokes feelings of lightness with a clean floral profile. This note is blended with rose and lotus flower to form the floral heart of Sky.
The surprise factor is the amusing popcorn accord that brings an element of fun and excitement to the fragrance. Notes of vanilla and musk, are mixed with buttery popcorn to create a warm base for the scent that is both nostalgic and modern.
The eclectic perfume-box packaging matches Sui’s consistent use of florals and baroque curves. She hopes people will love the bottle as much as she does and keep it even when the fragrance is empty. Anna Sui perfume Sky is an uplifting, spirited, and ethereal perfume in an exceptional bottle.
Perfume, the ultimate accessory
When conceptualizing fragrances Sui is always looking for scents that contain stories and journeys within them. She describes the ultimate Anna Sui perfume as the ultimate accessory and the completion of the fantasy for a fashion designer. In her world fragrance creates a mood and an atmosphere that you can walk around with. She believes fragrance is an unspoken language and that it says a lot about a person, it informs their mood and encapsulates what they are trying to express.
Rose has been the basis for many of her scents and Sky includes this favorite in its heart note. Sui says that everyone has memories and emotions that they associate with flowers and she loves sharing the colorfulness and bliss that rose gives her. Her own memory is of her mother growing roses in their garden, making the scent of roses one of her earliest and fondest childhood memories. This note was also featured in Sui’s very first fragrance, Anna Sui Classic, which she launched in 1999. Today the Anna Sui perfume collection consists of more than 40 fragrances!
Iconic status
While her style may be difficult to articulate her creations are easy to identify. Sui ensures that everything she creates forms part of the same dream and fantasy, the same universe. This is what allows the Anna Sui brand to be global. Her unique identity has become her exclusivity element, her designs are extensions of her, and no one else.
After more than 40 years in the industry Sui has earned the title of one of New York’s most accomplished fashion designers. She was named one of the Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade and earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) in 2009. She is celebrated for her authentic contemporary designs inspired by vast amounts of research into vintage styles and cultural artifacts.
She came from an era of creators that went to New York to meet their idols, to finally becoming one herself. After all the years in the industry, she still adds that sense of irony and playfulness to everything she does; a tongue-in-cheek approach that made her one of America’s most-loved designers.
Rock-and-roll foundations
Born in the suburbs of Detroit, to second-generation Chinese-American parents, Sui’s career reads like a classic American success story. After completing her studies at the Parsons School of Design she entered the New York punk scene of the 1970s. During this time her core design motivation started to emerge: she was inspired by the idea of dressing rock stars and people who attended their concerts.
By the late 1980s, Sui gained a cult-like following, getting the attention of Japanese fashion powerhouses such as Onward Kashiyama. Her biggest breakthrough came in 1991 when her supermodel friends, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington encouraged her to create her first runway show. Sui rented a small space in the Meatpacking District and the models walked the runway for free, in exchange for clothes. The show was a huge success and drew attention from everyone in the industry, from the media to buyers.
The three supermodels became synonymous with Sui’s runway and her favorite memory is the 1994 spring show that was recently revived on social media. Campbell, Evangelista, and Turlington were scheduled to walk out one by one, but the runway was long enough for all three women to be on view at the same time. As they passed each other on the catwalk for the finale, they caught each other’s eyes and Linda stopped in the middle of the runway to wait for the other two. They walked off stage together, laughing as they modeled Sui’s baby-doll dresses and birthday cake handbags. This unplanned, iconic fashion moment is one Sui will never forget.
Uniquely different designs
For Sui, the creative process is mostly driven by feeling. In the beginning, it is something almost impossible to articulate, but once she allows this feeling to inform the direction of her research, a new way of expression begins to find form. This process is mostly driven by a quest for finding the perfect imagery, a way for the world in the back of her mind to take shape in the form of design.
Sui is known for her extensive research, which often includes studying a great deal of vintage artwork. This is how she continually generates the unique patterns, prints, and designs she is known for. Music is another undeniable source of inspiration and Sui has worked an astonishing amount of genres into her designs, spanning from punk and goth to folk and grunge.
Sui embodies the spirit of the rebellious bohemian that is reflected in her designs. She is known for her light-hearted, whimsical, and entertaining approach to everything she does. Reflected repeatedly in her designs are all the things that she loves: the 60s, rock-and-roll, punk, and street fashion. This eclectic mix of vintage and rock is innovatively reworked into playful silhouettes for contemporary appeal. Her esthetic is sometimes difficult to articulate and unique juxtapositions emerge when attempting to describe her style: feminine but nostalgic, trendy but rock-and-roll, or a flea-market flair with modern trimmings.
These designs form the vocabulary she uses to express herself and sees it as a tool for others to transform themselves. For Sui, the magic of clothing is in the fantasy of putting on the regalia suddenly transforming into a different person.
The two icons she hopes to emulate are Andy Warhol and The Rolling Stones. For her, Warhol represents the ultimate fantasy of downtown New York and Sui loves that his work expanded to be so much more than art. The Rolling Stones are her favorite style icons and she incorporates various elements of their look into her designs.
We think of Anna Sui as a creative genius. There’s no reason the Anna Sui perfumes would be anything less than that and that’s why there’s always at least one in our fragrance wardrobe. Which Anna Sui perfume do you love the most? Tell us in the comments.
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