In her Resort 2027 collection, titled "The Only Blonde in the World," Anna Sui channels the spirit of Pauline Boty, the sole woman among London's 1960s Pop Art pioneers. Rather than merely borrowing Boty's imagery, Sui adopts her collage-like approach, weaving together Marilyn Monroe, lingerie, denim, and cocktail dressing into a coherent narrative. The result is less a themed collection than a map of Sui's creative universe, where decades-old friendships and personal obsessions coexist comfortably.
The collection unfolds in chapters defined by color stories pulled from Boty's paintings - chocolate, nude, jade green, and Sui's signature lavender. Crushed velvet jackets trimmed with lace meet patchworked denim; embroidered mesh dresses mingle with fringe-trimmed knits. Western-inspired separates are softened by florals and rosettes, echoing Boty's own juxtapositions of pop culture and female sensuality.
What gives the collection emotional weight is its dialogue with lingerie history. Sui revisited lace camisoles created with artist Ellen Berkenblit, originally designed for Le Corset, the cult SoHo lingerie boutique that flourished in the 1980s and 1990s. Le Corset, known for its corsetry and boudoir-inspired pieces, was a haven for designers seeking intimate craftsmanship. "I was her biggest customer," Sui recalls, describing weekly visits to discover new pieces. This nod to a bygone boutique underscores the enduring influence of lingerie on ready-to-wear, from the corset's structural legacy to the lace camisole's transition from undergarment to outerwear.
Sui's evolution is also commercial: retailers like Net-a-porter increasingly embrace separates alongside the dresses that long defined her brand. Yet nostalgia here is not replication. It is reflective, lived-in, and wholly personal - a conversation with the past that feels as intimate as the lingerie that inspired it.
Originally reported by WWD