Press Release
Photo: Misha Urubkov
Internationally renowned celebrity fashion designer Sue Wong hosted a star-studded birthday celebration and Fashion Installation extravaganza announcing D.N.A.M. Apparel Industries LLC as the new Licensee of the SUE WONG Evening Collection. The exclusive celebration, themed “From MAO TO NOW”, honored the designer’s origins from a remote humble village in Maoist China, journeying to America as a young child and transforming herself into Fashion’s Empress of Style.
The evening featured a breathtaking Fashion Installation epitomizing the SUE WONG signature look, and the designer gave an exciting indication of what the future holds at her historical Hollywood landmark palazzo, The Cedars. The special event was attended by the designer’s close friends, collaborators, and entertainment luminaries such as actor-musician Ronn Moss (THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, PLAYER), actress Alice Amter (THE BIG BANG THEORY), actress Sofia Milos (CSI: MIAMI, THE SOPRANOS), rocker Chris Pitman (GUNS N’ ROSES), as well as Hollywood major players, former Director of BAFTA LA, Sandro Monetti, former BAFTA Chairman of the Board Nigel Daly, OBE, Larry Namer, founder of E! Entertainment and Rob Minkoff, Director of THE LION KING. Additionally, socialites and philanthropists Alexandrina Doheny and Jo Hilton joined accomplished visionaries from the glamorous worlds of Fashion, Film, Art, Architecture, Music, and Photography in celebrating the Designer’s birthday and toasting her ground-breaking creative plans for the future.
On behalf of the City of Los Angeles and Mayor Eric Garcetti, Sue received a recognition award for her excellence and accomplishments in the Fashion industry.
The critically acclaimed designer, coined as “Every Woman’s Couturière”, expressed how she has many dreams yet to manifest. Being the quintessential Phoenix, she now finds herself poised on a threshold she calls her Third Phoenix Rising. The next most vibrant and exciting Third Chapter is the culmination of a stellar career, the embodiment of her well-respected, much loved epiphanous label of magnificent evening gowns and cocktail dresses, SUE WONG.
Sue has taken Fashion into never-before-seen heights of couture excellence in the commercial arena. Her ground-breaking acumen and high excellence in the pantheon of design affords her the luxury in applying her collective artistic sensibilities to multiple genres. She continues to be the proven Alchemist, expanding her artistic canvas into licensing modalities for Fashion, Home, Lifestyle and Interiors. Sue’s core Fashion signature style of haute glamour and romantic vintage aesthetics embodies an odyssey of seduction, sensuality, and femininity that invokes and awakens the Goddess within each woman. Sue is excited to embark on a licensing agreement of her beautiful core Collection of evening gowns and cocktail dresses. While maintaining her signature style of haute glamour and romantic sensibilities, SUE WONG will also introduce ultra-modern silhouettes which will enchant and catapult the SUE WONG look to dazzle a new generation.
Sue Wong announced a new alliance with D.N.A.M. Apparel Industries, LLC. Henri Levy, Chief Executive Officer of D.N.A.M. Apparel Industries, LLC, is the new licensee of SUE WONG for her core Evening Collection. With his commitment and passion for Fashion stemming from an accomplished textile background in France, Henri and D.N.A.M. Apparel Industries, LLC will manufacture and distribute the new SUE WONG Collection. The new SUE WONG Evening Collection will feature such diverse categories as evening gowns, cocktail dresses and dressy separates. In addition, there will be an exciting introduction of SUE WONG SEDUCTION – a Day into Evening collection of contemporary dresses. This will be a collaboration with Monica Gupta in unveiling a younger SUE WONG hybrid look. The new SUE WONG SEDUCTION Collection will be a category of young, contemporary dresses incorporating the most edgy and trend-setting knit fabrics and silhouettes, guaranteed to redefine the essence of Fashion and thereby appealing to fashionistas of all demographics.
Henri Levy expressed: “As an experienced Licensee, I am very excited to be investing in such a powerful and renowned brand. We look forward to introducing the new SUE WONG Collection on an international platform with a diversity that will catapult it globally into great recognition and unprecedented success.”
Monica Gupta shared: “Sue Wong’s Hollywood glamour gowns have always brought out the best in each girl. Truthfully, they are a girl’s dream come true. I am honored to be trained and mentored by Ms. Sue Wong, and to work alongside her in creating a new hybrid Collection capturing stylish fashion for a new generation.”
The evening’s extraordinary cultural and artistic convergence culled powerful, diverse musical performances that awakened the Rock Legacy embedded in the walls of Sue Wong’s Hollywood landmark palace, The Cedars. The legends of The Cedars include Howard Hughes, Dennis Hopper, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol and Johnny Depp, to mention a few. These performances included renowned musicians Ronn Moss, Jawn Star, Rob Math, Jimmy Carnelli of Player, Blues-Rock singer Shannan Rene Parks, Brit rocker Steve Cooke, international chanteuse Maria Elena Infantino, Flamenco guitarist Medi EM, experiential performer, bassist Djordje Stijepovic and emerging star Melissa Lee Diehl.
The special celebratory evening, the quintessential statement of haute glamour, featured a Fashion odyssey saluting SUE WONG and celebrating the designer’s birthday. Sponsors included: Angelini Trading Company – Benevento Italy Champagne, Casa Mexico Tequila, White Tiger Vodka, Purple Haze Liqueur, Equality Wines, Overflow Coffee & Tea House, Hubbert’s Lemonade, Cali-Dragon Veganics Farm & Orchard Sugarcane Juice, Organic Suja Juice, Hint Water, Kangen Water, Swirl Cupcakes / Beverly Cannon Committee, The Center for Aesthetic Dentistry / The Center for Sleep & Wellness and Mukul Resort. The enchanting evening was dramatically accented by gorgeous floral arrangements designed by Sue Wong, who also designed the interiors of the iconic, glamorous home, The Cedars. Spectacular headdresses by Atzi Designs, What a Betty and Kicka Custom Design complemented the gowns to complete SUE WONG’s hypnotically-glamorous vision. Bui Productions transformed the SUE WONG models into seductive goddesses with beautiful hair and makeup. Jewels by Samira accentuated some of the dramatic looks.
SUE WONG’s alluring gowns harken back to Hollywood’s Golden Era, epitomizing timeless glamour and magic. The exclusive SUE WONG Fashion Installation at her Birthday celebration featured 49 signature creations: each an enduring, timeless statement from Sue’s rare archives. The SUE WONG Collection delivers the essence of Glamour for the present, reinventing it for 2016 and beyond.
Sue reiterates: “I have enjoyed my lifelong creative work. As one of my favorite teachers of the Twentieth Century, Joseph Campbell taught: ‘Follow your Bliss’. My life has been my Art, and my Art is my life.” Having originated from a remote humble village in Maoist China, Sue Wong journeyed to America as a young child and transformed herself into Fashion’s Queen of Beads, a living paradigm of the American Dream.
