In 1997 Sui signed an agreement with Wella AG company of
Germany, this was when she bagan producing her own Anna Sui fragrance. She was partially
excited about the fragrance deal because she considers scents to be more inspiration
to her designs and creations.
Albion, a Japanese major manufacturer within cosmetics and
skin care products company also went
into the deal. The original cosmetic line of Anna Sui was release in 1999, the
line included base makeup products, liner, eye shadows, lip colour and nail
colours. ‘’I was able to explore while I was creating it, adding anything that
struck my fancy. The result is a collection that has all the precise colours
for today’s look.’’ – Anna Sui. Colours which were included in the range were silver,
purple, gold and blue. In 2000 the line of skin care products were produced.
Sui has said that the makeup collections that she has released
are very personal to her. All of her products have a tea rose scent; this is
because this is her favourite scent. The packagings for this range were also
embossed with the rose design. The packaging was decorated with the rose theme as
well.
I read in Anna Suis book that she believed that she wanted to
create products that can be used as an accessory – also with a novelty feel to
them. In Asia the beauty products were in the top five best sellers,
celebrities which used the range were Cher, Drew Barrymore and Christina Ricci.
From research I have found that there were seven key words
for the makeup line which are the same for her clothing line – rose, butterfly,
purple, red, black glitter and antique.
To the right is an image of how Anna Sui's cosmetic range is displayed in a shop. This is a recent image as it has the advertisements of the newest Anna Sui mascara from the Spring/Summer makeup collection of this year.
I love how it looks very clean and the products are all placed nicely out onto the surfaces clearly to be able to see the beautiful packaging of each product. The furniture and the decoration of the walls are very fitting to Anna Sui as it is a similar pattern the packaging of Anna Sui products. I found this image on the Anna Sui cosmetic Twitter page.
I
recently read an interview with Anna Sui where the interviewer asked if Anna
Sui’s fashion design influences her makeup range. Sui replied saying that all
her products are inspired by her fashion world. She said that when she was a
teen she dragged a vanity bag from the Salvation Army which had been in a fire
and then painted it black and kept it in her room.
 |
| Rococo shapes similar to shapes on packaging |
When
Sui opened her first store she brought all the vintage furniture from a flea
market and painted it all black. Wella loved the idea of the rococo shapes and the roses of the furniture
– this has carried through the makeup packaging. Other shapes that are included
in the packaging is from Sui’s jewellery that she has designed.
Sui’s
product packaging is considered as collectors’ items because they are all so
elegant – something that you don’t want to throw away once you have finished
with them. ‘’The other thing that I realized is that not everybody has the
lifestyle or the budget to afford an Anna Sui dress, or maybe they don’t have
anywhere to wear an Anna Sui dress, but they can have the same fantasy in that
tube of lipstick or that nail polish. You get the same excitement when you see
it, so I feel like that’s my job, to put that into every product.’’ –
Anna Sui
Reference
2-3, E. (no date) Anna Sui, Google Books.
Infobase Learning. Available at:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-r5bAgAAQBAJ (Accessed: 23 February 2015).
‘Anna Sui on
Instagram Immediacy: And Fantasy In a Tube of Lipstick (Part II) — The New
Potato’ (2015). The New Potato. Available at:
http://www.thenewpotato.com/2015/01/29/anna-sui-instagram-immediacy-fantasy-tube-lipstick-part-ii/
(Accessed: 25 February 2015).
‘Photos and videos by
ANNA SUI COSMETICS (@annasuicosme)’ (no date). Available at:
https://twitter.com/annasuicosme/media (Accessed: 23 February 2015).
