Fort Lauderdale is the latest—if not the last—temporary abode of the traveling Anna Sui exhibit organized by the Fashion and Textile Museum. “The World of Anna Sui” began in London in 2017, then a much concise version was mounted in Tokyo, then at the Museum of Arts and Design in a pre-pandemic New York.

Earlier this year—in all it’s psychedelic glory—the extensive retrospective of Anna Sui’s work was reinstalled at the NSU Art Museum in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The exhibit digs not only into Anna’s work that encompasses 30+ years of designing, but also her process, inspirations and backstories. Since her affinity with rock and roll is prevalent in her work, the exhibition was given it’s own Spotify playlist. I’ve had the privilege of seeing a few of her runway shows in New York in the early 2000s and her presentations were consistently heavy on thematics and a poetic narrative, heightened by her choice of music: rock and roll in most parts, lots of drums, loud.

The exhibit features about a hundred mannequins that show Anna’s unique style stamp that’s a little flea market-y with lots of tongue-in-cheek and the ever-present union of the romantic and badass. Each grouping told the story of a specific archetype, as for example, grunge girls, hippie chicks, surfer nomads, and pirate rock stars, amongst a dozen or so themes featured in the show.

My favorite though are the hand-painted “dolly” heads in some of the mannequins. Like pretty flappers but not from the roaring twenties, but rather, from the movie set of Cabaret in the early ‘70s. I remember her original boutique on Greene Street in Soho, where the dolly heads were seemingly worn and vintage. They gave so much character to the space, which was like this dark, high end thrift store boudoir, with hints of kitschy sweetness.

No one does boho-chic like Anna Sui.

The World of Anna Sui runs through October 3, 2021 at the NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale.

click on the photos for a full screen view