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At an Anna Sui show, an awesome casting and a star-filled front row are all but guaranteed. Sometimes, in fact, the models and the celebrities swap places. Sui has often had actors and musicians strut their stuff on her catwalks. We asked five of the most memorable men to have done so to share their experiences of walking for Sui in the ’90s. Dave Navarro, who had been a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, recalls his lingerie look. Rufus Wainwright remembers bringing his mother to the show he walked in. The Smashing Pumpkins’s James Iha draws parallels between music and fashion. And Donovan Leitch breaks down his infamous runway moonwalk moment. Read on for all the details.
Dave Navarro“I was already a fan of Anna Sui when she reached out to my management team, so when I got that call I was super happy to fly out to New York. I ended up going to her studio and we met for the first time. She measured me for the show and actually created some custom-made items for me. To this day, the leather jacket I wear is the one she made for me on that day over 20 years ago. It’s incredible.
“Naomi Campbell was in that show, and there was a moment where we passed each other on the runway, which was very, very surreal and strange, and certainly nerve-racking because I was all of a sudden in this show in the middle of Fashion Week in Bryant Park with the biggest names in the industry. I had never been exposed to anything like that, so it was certainly scary, but it was a fun scary. I would equate it to being on a roller coaster in the sense that you’re worried that you’re going to crash but it’s exhilarating to be on it at the same time.
“I was willing to experiment with Anna and just use it as an opportunity to explore different sides of my sensibilities and fashion sense. I’d already been experimenting plenty with androgyny and it was a perfect fit.”
Donovan Leitch“I was living in Los Angeles, where I grew up, and I got a call out of the blue one day from Anna. This was back in 1993, and I didn’t know who Anna Sui was. My mother was a model back in the ’60s, [but] I had no experience whatsoever of fashion or runways or anything at all. I was in L.A. acting, and I had been [the lead] in a movie called The In Crowd. It was one of those movies where it only came out for like a week in the theaters; it became a little like a cult movie.
“I don’t know how, but Anna and Steven Meisel watched it one night and then Steven, was like, ‘You should have that guy do your show.’ Steven—I don’t know if he’s still doing it—but he would always help Anna cast her shows. I guess they just must have called my agent and tracked me down. So I got a call from Anna’s office and I think it was Thomas, who still works for her to this day, and they said, ‘Are you interested in being in a fashion show?’ And I said, ‘Why don’t you send a tape?’ And they sent out a cassette tape—I actually still have it—I think it was Spring 1993. I saw the tape and I saw Naomi and all the girls and I was like, ‘Uh, where do I sign up? Like, yeah!’
“I got to New York and I remember showing up backstage and all those girls were there and I was just completely overwhelmed and [thinking], ‘OMG, you know this is incredible—I’ve died and gone to heaven.’ Actually, Naomi took me under her arm and was like, ‘Come on with me.’ The show was all this crushed velvet, Edwardian romantic look, a very dandy, gender-bender kind of thing, and I loved it.
“At that show Zoe Cassavetes, my sister Ione [Skye], and Sofia Coppola, they all came—and Roman Coppola. The show was great and I had the best time. Afterward, Katie Ford came up to all of us and she was like, ‘I want to sign all of you!’ So me, Sofia, Zoe, and Ione all got signed to Ford on the spot by Katie. Then I went back to L.A. and packed a bag and then just turned around and went back to New York and moved there. I became great friends with Anna, and I shot a DKNY campaign with Peter Lindbergh . . . and all of a sudden I was in this world, and I owe it all to Anna for putting me in that show.
“[About the dance moves in the Spring 1994 show], I used to be a break-dancer in high school, I was like the white breaker in my school in Hollywood. I remember [wearing] sort of tight silver pants and I felt very futuristic-robotic, you know, and I think Ève [Salvail] was on the runway and she started breaking a move. I got in trouble. I don’t think Steven and Anna were too thrilled because I remember kind of getting chastised afterward—I don’t know if it was them—but I remember it got back to me. Maybe through my agent, who was like, ‘Listen, you know this is about the collection, this is not about you; you were, like, basically showboating.’ The joke was that I was put in fashion jail for like six months or something. [Later] I was doing Marc Jacobs’s show, and he had this sign up [backstage with instructions for the] models, and it was like: ‘No posing, no moonwalking. . . . ’ Anna and Marc were always like, ‘Dono . . . no moonwalking!’ And I was like, ‘Okay.’ ”
James Iha“Anna was a friend and it was an honor, as well as fun, to walk the runway for her. I’ve always liked fashion, even before being in a band, so it was an exciting experience—like something out of Blow-Up. Her clothes are beautiful and the backstage was a surreal environment to be a part of. I think the way that musicians work and prepare for making records or going on tour, [is similar to how] fashion designers make memorable collections and put on shows.”
Jesse Camp“1998 was a magical year. I was 18 years old, barely out of high school, bumming around NYC without a real worry or a plan when I stumbled into the dream job of any kid growing up in the late ’90s: MTV VJ. [Editor’s note: MTV held open auditions at 1515 Broadway for wannabe VJs between the ages of 18 and 28. Camp won and spent roughly a year at the channel rather than the planned-on two weeks.] When you are used to seeing Carson Daly introducing ’NSync or 98 Degrees videos and then all of a sudden you see a male Punky Brewster in a Ratt T-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans (which, in 1998, could only be found at Trash and Vaudeville) on your TV screen, you’re gonna take notice. Using a beat-up Singer sewing machine I had found in a Chinatown dumpster, I would meticulously design a new outfit for myself every day starting with the craziest fabrics I could find on 38th Street. My look was much more 1978 or 1988 than 1998, I called it ‘Shopping at an Old Navy Without an Antidepressant.’
“[Back then], I knew nothing about the New York fashion industry other than there were always really beautiful girls hanging out around Fifth Avenue and 13th Street, which was because they went to the Parsons School of Design, which was located right there and, fun fact, is Anna’s alma mater. I happened to pop on the TV right while Anna was taking a quick break to decompress from putting the finishing touches on her Spring 1999 collection, which married the glitter, glam, and black leather of the ’70s with the mesh and metallics of a future planet. Anna had her assistant find out who I was and then they called MTV and two weeks later, I found myself making my runway model debut. I met Madonna that night and . . . Steven Meisel!
“Being that I was 120 pounds and 6 foot 4 at the time, I was very surprised to hear that someone wanted me to be a model in their fashion show. I ran to the office of Lauren, the MTV wardrobe department head, and asked her what she thought of Anna and she lit up like a Christmas tree. Anna was the coolest designer back then, and she’s still the coolest today; she has never lost touch with the little girl who would take the scraps and leftover material her mom didn’t use and sew the pieces into something magnificent. The ‘I don't know how this happened, but fuck it, it looks cool’ spirit is in every stitch of Anna’s clothing because that’s just who she is.”
Rufus Wainwright“I really have a very, very soft spot in my heart for Anna Sui because, you know, really early on in my career she clocked me and asked me to be in one of her fashion shows. I think it was influenced mainly by the ’60s or Woodstock, or Peter, Paul and Mary; it was kind of based on the aesthetic of that time. I’d never walked the runway before and I was pretty dazzled by the whole concept, and so it was really kind of a fairy-tale event that she offered. I got to do a couple of other shows after that and, of course, as it is with the fashion world, you know you kind of get hip to it pretty fast and become slightly jaded—but I still enjoy it very much. But when I first did that show with Anna, I still had this little innocence that she didn’t crush or anything! It was just a wonderful experience, especially also with the subject matter of the show being based on music. It was fun for my mom [Kate McGarrigle], too, because she was from that era, and she came and hung out. It just felt very inclusive and warm.
“The thing with Anna is that there was always a sense of being close to the ground and not kind of falling for the treachery that fashion sometimes has a reputation for. She’s a really kind and generous soul, and so it was very disarming and a lovely experience—but yet with all the bells and whistles and pizzazz and intensity of the New York fashion world, as well.”
These interviews have been edited and condensed.