Somewhere between signing off on an encyclopedic monograph and staging a massive retrospective exhibition in London, Anna Sui found time to design one of her most focused collections to date. Her jumping-off points for Resort 2018 were the otherworldly photographs Sarah Moon, Deborah Turbeville, and Guy Bourdin shot in the ’70s, namely Moon’s Cacharel campaigns and Bourdin’s pictures for Charles Jourdan. Their evocative colors and ethereal dream girls set up the palette and spirit of the collection. Rich eggplant, azure, black, rust, and a delicate beige lent a moody quality to nostalgic dresses and layering pieces such as geometric lace shorts, sheer star-print robe coats, and wide-leg pants that work on their own or under a tunic dress.
What made Resort feel like more than just a string of vintage-tinged hits was the vastness of the prints and the mashed-up way they were styled together. A big cabbage rose–print skirt was paired with a fairy intarsia crop top, the way a modern Sui girl might style her pieces. Another dress combined a shooting star, a full moon, and swirling ribbon patterns, topped off with a swingy asymmetric hem. Sui left no stone unturned with her fabrics, meaning the tiny cupids, stars, and swallows that appear boldly on frocks made cameos in lace trimmings and as patches. The repetition and consistency of motifs will give customers something to pore over and play with when the clothes hit stores.
