The Chelsea Hotel reopened in 2022 after a years-long refurbishment and its history of being an artists’ enclave and creative hub is not lost on Anna Sui.

“It’s an iconic place and I wanted to celebrate New York again,” she said at a preview.

She chose the location because it reminded her of her spring inspiration of the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, another creative hub for D.H. Lawrence, the English author of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” who entered self-imposed exile in 1919. “It was a literary colony for writers, artists and special people,” she said, including Ansel Adams and Georgia O’Keeffe and Millicent Rogers.

Rogers, the Standard Oil heiress and fashion plate, would look smashing in any of the bohemian boudoir looks Sui showed. There were pinafore dresses, slips with cascading ruffles, printed mesh cardigans and pants, lots of lace details, including an all-white lace bell bottom pant and tunic. “I’d love to see someone get married in this,” Sui said of the latter look.

Baby-doll dresses, a Sui staple, were styled over a wide blue jean with studs.

Fashion has been anchored in bohemia for a few seasons, but Sui has been there all along, which is why her coquettish mix of sheer layers, ballet knit cardigans and dreamy prints looked so authentically her. An avid vintage purveyor, scarves and shoes with rosettes by way of John Fluevog looked like you might have found them at a yard sale of treasures, all mixed in to her layered lineup.

On the seat of attendees was “The Nineties x Anna Sui,” a Rizzoli tome that chronicles her history. Fashion leans into nostalgia quite a bit but for Sui, it’s a real lived in history that sparks authentic fashion that resonates across generations of shoppers.