Surprise, surprise. Anna Sui, mistress of optimistic free-for-alls, has a moody side.

While it wasn’t a totally sober affair, the show’s start — mostly black with punches of purple — was certainly darker territory for her.

Still, the party dresses and piles of layered knits were classic Sui, and halfway through, she couldn’t resist going wild and colorful again.

“I was into interiors, obviously,” she said backstage of her initial inspiration. And by “obviously,” she meant the black sweater with the big settee intarsia and the silk tent dresses printed with all sorts of household items like irons, forks, clocks and armoires — all things she said she wants to collect. There were hints of stately Victorian parlors in the layers of the aforementioned dark jacquards, while the gold tassels of an orange-and-gold floral dress looked like they’d been nicked from curtains in a Seventies-era lounge.

But pick apart the busy medley, and these pieces translate into street clothes that reside on the kooky side of cute.



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