Sue Wong: From Mao to Now to Wow!
There are parties in Hollywood and then there are The Parties, and certainly the Sue Wong birthday party, titled from “Mao To Now,” was The Party to attend this spring. Indeed, it was a party to end all parties — if you will — although Wong always find a way to top herself, creatively.
From Mao to Now is a reference to the fact that Wong was born in a small Chinese village and then journeyed across the globe to become the empress of haute glamour in a town known for just that.
The festivities that night featured a breathtaking fashion installation epitomizing the Sue Wong look: signature eveningwear for women.
This special commemorative event was, as her staff said, “the quintessential statement of haute refinement, a fashion odyssey saluting Sue Wong and celebrating the designer’s birthday.”
It was so spectacular that Wong received a commendation from the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti.
As the evening opened, journalist Vida Ghaffari of So Very Vida and reporter Dawna Lee Heising interviewed celebrities walking the Red Carpet for Eye of Entertainment TV.
Samira Kazemeni, of Jewels by Samira, was also interviewing models on that enchanted Red Carpet.
Meanwhile, there began a parade of models wearing fabulous and stunning Sue Wong gowns and cocktail dresses. In all, 49 designs were displayed as part of a retrospective fashion installation representing some of Wong’s greatest work.
I must give special mention to evening dresses which particularly enthralled me: one was a floral kimono with a long train that had to be carried. Very dramatic! Another stunning design, and there were many — too many to mention, was a burgundy gown with spaghetti straps and a burnt out bodice replete with gorgeous butterflies. This creation also had a wide skirt with swirls of playful burgundy organza flowers; a matching burnt out shawl with fringe completed this outfit. Indeed, Wong makes the most fascinating shawls to go with her gowns!
Wong made her entrance, and what an entrance it was! She descended a winding grand staircase in a ruffled fuchsia organza tier jacket bedecked in a spectacular necklace of dripping rubies and emeralds. She was wearing a long skirt trimmed with feathers and embodying a black silk mermaid design and deconstructed hanging panels; atop her head was a fabulous What A Betty Headdress. She looked fantastic!
Wong used the backdrop of her palazzo, The Cedars, and the aforementioned fashion installation to announce a new alliance with D.N.A.M. Apparel Industries, LLC. Henri Levy, Chief Executive Officer of D.N.A.M., is the new licensee of SUE WONG for her core eponymous Evening Collection. With his commitment to and passion for fashion stemming from an accomplished background in textiles in France, Levy and his company will manufacture and distribute the new SUE WONG Collection, which will feature such diverse categories as evening gowns, cocktail dresses, and dressy separates. In addition, a new line will be introduced: SUE WONG SEDUCTION – a Day into Evening collection of contemporary dresses. This will be a collaboration with designer Monica Gupta and will unveil a younger SUE WONG hybrid look in contemporary dresses, incorporating the most edgy and trend setting knit fabrics and silhouettes. This new line aims to redefine the essence of fashion with its appeal to fashionistas of all demographics.
Henri Levy expressed his sentiments about the announcement: “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.”
So, Sue Wong, every woman’s couturier, is going global. But, don’t worry, her gowns can still be found in prestigious major department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales and Lord & Taylor, to name but a few, and can also be viewed and purchased online on her own site, along with her eponymous parfum, Sue Wong.
Celebrities such as Ann Hathaway, Taylor Swift, Jessica Biel, Arianna Huffington, Jane Seymour, and Kim Kardashian wear Sue Wong.
Wong always stays au currant and continually reinvents herself. The creativity of her designs and the strength of her personality have established her as one of the great stars in the fashion design firmament, and, in recognition of this, she has received numerous awards in the last year.
Wong selects exquisite fabrics for her evening gowns and cocktail dresses and embellishes them with luminous beads, unique embroideries, and layered textures incorporating paillettes, passementerie, and soutache. Some of her designs feature exotic elements such as ostrich, quail, and peacock feathers, as well as silver and copper encrusted beads. She fortuitously combines these elements to create works of spectacular beauty.
New Wong partner Monica Gupta opined, “Sue Wong’s Hollywood glamour gowns have always brought out the best in each woman. 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.”
Attendees on this special night included the designer’s close friends, collaborators, and entertainment luminaries: 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); Vida Ghaffari, creator of the blog So Very Vida; Samira Kazemeni of Jewels by Samira; Dawna Lee Heisling of Entertainment TV; Sandro Monetti, former director of BAFTA; Nigel Daly, OBE, former BAFTA Chairman of the Board; Larry Namer, founder of E! Entertainment; Rob Minkoff, director of THE LION KING; and socialite/philanthropists Alexandrina Doheny and Jo Hilton.
Former residents of The Cedars include such personages as Howard Hughes, Dennis Hopper, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, and Bob Dylan. On this evening, the walls of this edifice reverberated with music which paid homage to these legends, produced by a select gathering of musical talent including Ronn Moss, Jawn Star, Rob Math, Jimmy Carnelli, Shannan Rene Parks, Steve Cooke, Maria Elena Infantino, Medi EM, Djordje Stijepovic, and Melissa Lee Diehl.
Spectacular headdresses by Atzi Designs, What a Betty, and Kicka Custom Design complemented the gowns and completed Sue Wong’s hypnotically glamorous vision. Bui Productions transformed the models into seductive goddesses with beautiful hair and makeup and Jewels by Samira accentuated their dramatic looks.
Sponsors for the evening’s festivities were 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.
This enchanted evening was dramatically accented by gorgeous floral arrangements designed by Sue Wong, who also designed the interiors of her iconic, glamorous home, The Cedars.
Sue Wong concludes, “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.”
Born in a remote and humble village in Maoist China, Sue Wong made a perilous journey to America as a young child and subsequently transformed herself into a queen of women’s fashion, a living paradigm of the American Dream.