Sue Wong: Opulent RestraintSue Wong lives for one thing: To spread glamour and beauty!
Her designs are as timeless as they are romantic. Flattering, lyrical, Sue Wong's fashions work a kind of magic; drawing on a portion of mystique and seduction, the clothes take on a power of their own. "When a woman puts on Sue Wong, i want to bring out her most confident and feminine self. I strive for that alchemy, where the romance of the clothing transforms a woman into a goddess-- an emissary of beauty. It's akin to the special feeling we all had as little girls when we first tried on our mother's or a loved one's best garment of jewelry and saw ourselves redefined."
Alluring and evocative, a Sue Wong design often echoes period style while remaining modern and utterly of the moment. Whether suffused with the sensuous Hollywood glamour of her muses: Garbo, Dietrich, Lombard, or steeped in the mystery of a Moroccan seraglio, her creations teem with romance. There is restrained opulence to everything that emerges from the Sue Wong atelier. Soft silk drapes with a decadent nonchalance. A bouquet of hand-beaded and embroidered florets swirls in place. A classic silhouette moves with a flirtatious lilt. Across the collection, fresh, lighthearted design complements bold, dramatic beauty in beguiling ways, the house of Sue Wong is know for technical excellence as well as ornate and intricate detailing. Her garments are meticulously and lovingly hand beaded, embroidered and finished by true artisans, employing techniques that were once only practiced in the couture houses of Europe. Her attention to detail and her garment cut are unsurpassed by her competitors. As the vivacious and captivating Sue Wong herself proclaims: "I am a maximalist."
"I gravitate toward a fantasy aesthetic in how women present themselves, with a refreshing, modern frankness, because it's the opposite of what I grew up with." At the age of six, Sue and her mother narrowly escaped communist China and its purges. They joined her father in Los Angeles, and Sue became intoxicated by everything that shaped Hollywood style: the slinky seductresses of the pre-code silver screen, the decadence of Weimar Berlin, the fervor of Jazz Age Manhattan, the exotic intrigue of the 1930's Shanghai, the heady excitement of bohemian Paris-- all inspire her life and inform her work.
Fantasy and reinvention have served her well. As a girl, she dreamt of becoming a painter. In fashion, she found her artistic canvas. At 19, she opened a boutique and created one-of-a-kind gowns accented with handcrafted details cut from vintage clothing. Designs for her popular labels brought her enormous success at an early age. As she developed her craft and perfected her signature style, she began to design under her own name. In 1985, Sue and her life and business partner Dieter Raabe established the Sue Wong label with a playful contemporary collection of daytime dresses. In 1999, an elegant evening-wear division, Sue Wong Nocturne, was added. An immediate success, it remains her signature collection.
Consistent best-sellers and objects of obsession in the rarefied world of fine dresses and evening wear, the Sue Wong collections are sold at specialty boutiques and the finest boutiques and the finest retailers throughout the US. These include Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue,Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Lord and Taylor and Macy's. Her garments are available in more than 25 countries.
Beauty rules Sue's life from the moment she awakens until she retires her design pad at the end of the day. An extensive contemporary art collection inhabits her homes, corporate offices and showrooms. In 2004, Sue purchased The Cedars, a glorious 17th-Century Venetian-style Hollywood landmark built in the 1920's for silent-film siren Norma Talmadge. Many luminaries have graced the threshold of this legendary palazzo over the years. Howard Hughes played the piano in the solarium. Errol Flynn and Marilyn Monroe were frequent party guests. Both Dennis Hopper and Jimi Hendrix lived there at the height of Hippie Bohemian Chic. With great passion, and drawing on contempletary design modalities, Sue completely restored, designed and furnished the estate in 1920's period detail, down to the drapes, bedding and pillows. Her other homes include a contemporary estate in Malibu and a tropical retreat on Maui.
"What good is fashion unless it stirs up genuine emotion! Love and beauty have a magical, transformative power." Sue Wong understands this power. In her outlook and in her designs, she honors the goddess force-- the universal feminine energy that allows women to transcend their time and place. Capturing that spirit with accessible designs of exceptional glamour and beauty, Sue Wong has found a calling she revels in, as couturiere to to everywoman. Her collection enchants as it empowers, leaving a trail of speechless romantics in its wake.
from SueWong.com
