ANNA SUI Designer spends free time in thrift shops

Clothes of the famous designer not found in her hometown.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
TROY, Mich. -- Anna Sui has come back to her hometown, to Marshall Field's at the Somerset Collection in Troy, to meet, greet, sign and pose for a line of fans that snakes through the cosmetics department.
She's the girl who collected clothes and loved rock music and knew from the age of 4 that she wanted to be a fashion designer and live in New York, never mind that her parents thought she ought be a doctor or something.
She is the most famous fashion designer to come out of Detroit, and the irony there is that no store in metro Detroit carries her clothes at the moment.
Stores are happy to sell her cosmetics and fragrances, however. Her perfume line is so successful that she is launching her fourth fragrance, a floral scent called Dolly Girl.
She recently flew to Chicago for more appearances and then back to New York to work on her spring 2004 collection, which debuted on a New York runway Sept. 17.
But suddenly, there is a window of free time. And for Anna, there is only one way to spend it: Shopping.
"When I was growing up, the stores had such cool stuff. Winkelman's had Kenzo" -- a Japanese designer known for his colorful clothes -- "and I had such an extensive collection because it would all get marked down to $9.99."
She loved those clothes.
"That's why I want to go thrift shopping," she says.
Anna is traveling with two publicists, Rachna Shah and Katherine Holmes. They work at KCD Worldwide, a New York firm that handles Gucci, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent and other top fashion names. They keep track of her schedule and stay quietly in the background.
Challenging
Dressing celebs, she says, can be a challenge. "Like some of them are impossible and some are pretty nice," she says.
"When Marilyn Manson asked me to make him something, I said sure," Anna says. He was easy to work with, wanting backless chaps and a coat that Naomi Campbell had worn on the runway.
Courtney Love was a different story, at least at first.
A few years ago, Love came into the Anna Sui store in New York's SoHo neighborhood. She tried on virtually everything in the place, leaving much of it on the floor, and was not shy about voicing her opinion of the clothes.
The manager, fed up, offered to get Anna on the phone. Love calmed down and the two made plans to have dinner.
Anna is wearing an outfit from her spring 2003 "country club" collection, a black zip-front jacket and culottes with a subtle windowpane plaid. Underneath, she has on a black T-shirt commemorating "A True Testimonial," the recent documentary on legendary Detroit rockers the MC5.
"It's so fascinating to hear them talk about those days," she says. "They filmed everything."
"Those days," meaning the 1960s, resonate particularly strongly with Anna. She loves that decade -- the clothes, the music, the scene. On her travels, she will comb through racks filled with vintage clothing, invariably pulling out the garments that exude '60s cool.
"I'm always trying to find the garage bands," she says. Not to mention a cool '60s dress or two.
She finds plenty at Mother Fletchers, a vintage store. She pores over the racks, her long black hair falling in a curtain around her face.
Recognition
Owner Eric Fletcher comes up to offer help. Suddenly, he realizes who she is.
"I watch you on fashion TV all the time!" he says. "I love your designs!"
Fletcher holds up a yellow shift with appliqued white flowers and a crocheted hem. Its label reads "Sheraton Cadillac, Detroit."
"I'll get that," Anna says. She also buys a yellow checked dress with a bow at the neck.
The next stop is Royal Oak, a town Anna remembers as a haven for small, funky shops. She visits a new one called Runway, which has a flouncy coral skirt blowing in the breeze outside and a pink Speed Queen washing machine just inside the door.
Is inspiration
She buys a green-and-ivory print dress, which she loves for its color and white jet buttons. She won't wear it, though.
"It's more for inspiration because it says something to me," she says.
The group strolls over to the Cat's Meow, a tiny store filled with rock-band T-shirts, dog collar necklaces and studded belts.
She buys a Clash T-shirt and a book on surfing. The shirt is for trips to the gym, she says. Maybe she'll customize it with gathering or something.
Anna's store in SoHo sells her collection, of course, but it also offers vintage purses, jewelry and other things she likes. She has been toying with the idea of adding Made in Detroit merchandise to the mix.