Anna Sui's muse for fall was Louise Nevelson, a member of the junk-art movement whose found-object sculptures are an apt metaphor for Sui's own design sensibility. A pasticheuse of the top order, she layered a pile of chunky gold chains and a foot-high fur toque on top of an Empire-waist connect-the-dot-print dress worn with fishnets and midheel loafers. And that was just for starters. An eclectic parade of menswear fabrics, butterfly prints, and metallic lamé followed.
Nevelson was at her peak in the late sixties, a period Sui has mined for inspiration many times before, and a few of the looks in this show have become signatures of sorts for the designer: the mumsy bouclé suit, the chiffon baby doll smock, the librarian's bow blouse. Into the mix, Sui tossed era-appropriate bandanas knotted underneath the chin, opaque op-art tights, and pendant necklaces, as well as some up-to-the-second strappy fur boots. Put together, it all made for one head-spinning collage.
