Book review of The Nineties x Anna Sui by Ileen Gallagher

Sometimes it seems like the 1990s was only yesterday, but other times it feels so distant that it might as well have been an entirely different dimension—an analog realm where taste and style developed more organically and with deep cultural relevance. The Nineties x Anna Sui (Rizzoli, $75, 9780847840595) is a perfect distillation of ’90s ethos: gritty, playful and obsessed with music. This quirky but thorough 176-page book celebrates Chinese American fashion designer Sui by immersing readers in her world. The chapter titles alone evoke nostalgia for the era: Babydoll, Grunge, Slipdress, Preppy, Vintage. The book is brimming with fashion—runway photos, backstage Polaroids and the designer’s own sketches—but also images and ephemera from pop culture that Sui herself was influenced by. There’s a photograph of Kurt Cobain wearing sunglasses in front of Jenny Holzer’s Times Square billboard, editorial spreads from Vogue and Sassy magazines, candid shots of Madonna with Tupac Shakur, stills from Cameron Crowe’s seminal film Singles and the short-lived-but-beloved ABC drama My So-Called Life, and a handwritten playlist to Sui’s Spring 1994 show that lists tracks by Bjork, Cypress Hill and Lush. Stories from Sui’s friends celebrate Sui along with some of the biggest cultural figures of the time. Filmmaker Sofia Coppola writes about her friendship with Sui: “She was one of the first people to have guys and girls together on the runway, and that was unique to her. When Marc Jacobs and Anna started doing shows, all of a sudden it was like the kids were in charge and they made clothes that spoke to us—it wasn’t our mom’s generation.” Sui defined ’90s fashion like no one else, and this book is undeniable proof.