Anna Sui

Anna Sui (tc: 蕭志美, sc: 萧志美, pinyin: Xiāo Zhìměi, jp: アナスイ) (born August 4, 1964) is an American fashion designer. She was named one of the "Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade" and in 2009 earned the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), joining the ranks of Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Diane von Furstenberg. Her brand categories include several Fashion lines, Footwear, Cosmetics, Fragrance, Eyewear, Jewellery, Accessories, as well as a Gifts line. Anna Sui products are sold through her free-standing stores and distributors around the world in over 50 countries. In 2006, Fortune estimated the collective value of Sui's fashion empire at over $400 million.

Early life and family origins

Sui was born on August 4, 1964, in Detroit, Michigan, to French-educated Chinese emigrants, Paul Sui (zh: 蕭惠光, pinyin: Xiāo Huì Guāng) and Grace Sui Fang (zh: 方光琪, pinyin: Fāng Guāng Qí) who met while studying at the Sorbonne in Paris where Sui's father was studying engineering and her mother, painting. Her paternal grandparents were Xiao Yu Lan (zh: 蕭毓蘭, pinyin: Xiāo Yùlán), a Tahitian-Chinese businessman, and his wife Qiu Daitai (zh: 丘帶娣). Her maternal grandparents were Fang Chih (zh: 方治, pinyin: Fāng Zhì), a Chinese diplomat and his wife Fang Ih-chi.