A brisk fall evening at Saint Theo’s restaurant in New York City set the stage for the debut of designer Anna Sui’s Wild Wonder collection, a set of five eau de parfums launched in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the eponymous Anna Sui Fragrances. Along with being a celebration of her latest scents, the event also served as a salon for Sui’s Spring/Summer 2025 fashion collection, Sally Go ‘Round the Roses, concepted from a cross between ’60s-era Bridget Bardot glamour and traditional country club style.
Anna Sui poses with a group of models wearing the designer’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection
Like her Spring/Summer 2025 runway looks, the fragrances in Sui’s Wild Wonder collection also feature a cheery aesthetic. Sui looked to the idea of whimsical dream worlds and soft pastel colors to inspire her latest fragrance release. “When we started talking about the fragrances, we wanted kind of like a clean slate. We had done so many aspirational, and then fantasy fragrances, and this time, we wanted something that was just a different thing for us,” the designer tells Bazaar. World-renowned perfumer Jérôme Epinette, known for his work with buzzy brands like Byredo and Sol de Janeiro, helped shape the development of the new releases.
Wild Wonder’s musky Mystic Luna eau de parfum is made with the glow of a crescent moon in mind, consisting of notes like bergamot, rose grasse, jasmine petals, and amber. The Electric Whisper fragrance combines black currant, pink pepper, rose, guava, and more for a fruity-floral finish. Dew Fields’s green tea, rose oil, lemon, and peony blend gives the perfume a familiar, nostalgic feel that’s also fresh and modern. Utopia Mist has a sunny yet spicy disposition led by notes of raspberry flower, saffron, yuzu, and pink pepper. And as you might expect, Thorn of a Rose is powered by rose damascena, along with violet, and patchouli, but the majority of the collection’s fragrances are also blended with rose notes. “Since I was a child, we’ve always had a rose garden,” Sui says. “I remember they were always my mom’s favorite. And especially when I saw lavender roses, I fell in love with them.” In fact, each of the perfume’s bottle caps is shaped like a rose.
A snapshot of the decor at Saint Theo’s during the Wild Wonder collection launch party and salon
Sui breaks down her inspiration behind the Wild Wonder collection, ahead, and reveals which of her over 50 scent creations is still her go-to favorite. Plus, the designer shares more about what makes roses so special, and who she considers the person she considers the best-smelling, ever.
How did you create the unique names of each of the fragrances in the Wild Wonder collection?
For the Wild Wonder collection, my team decided on specific colors for each of the boxes, and we named the fragrances to match the colors. Thorn of a Rose is red, Dew Fields became that pale green, and Electric Whisper, which is my favorite, is kind of a peachy pale melon color. So, I think the names just evoked the colors as well as the color of the juice.
Electric Whisper eau de parfum
Dew Fields eau de parfum
Mystic Luna eau de parfum
Utopia Mist eau de parfum
Thorn of a Rose eau de parfum
Do you find yourself wearing Electric Whisper most often these days?
Since we finished the fragrances and I received the testers, I saved the Electric Whisper tester and was wearing that. And once the team produced the fragrance I’ve been wearing it ever since—I’m almost out of my first bottle.
In what ways does your Spring/Summer 2025 collection inform the ethos and aesthetic behind the new eau de parfums?
It must have been subconscious because I decided that I wanted to do, again, a different palette. After doing that very dark, moody fall collection, I wanted to do something light and I stuck with pastels. The colors were almost the same as the fragrances so it kind of went hand and hand. And actually, when we were developing all the print and textile designs I kept choosing roses as well. So, that’s why I named the collection Sally Go ‘Round the Roses, and it just tied in so well with the fragrance because everything has a rose note in it. It kind of just all gelled together.
I know the rose is your favorite flower, which is one of the reasons each of the new fragrances is blended with a different kind of rose note. What about the flower makes it such a central and enduring part of the Anna Sui universe?
It used to be that every weekend at the farmer’s market in Union Square they would have those tea roses and I would get them, but they haven’t been as hardy lately so you don’t have them all the time. So, whenever they do appear, I’m always so happy. I buy a few bundles and my bedroom kind of smells like that—it’s actually the scent of our cosmetics. And when we did our first fragrance, the Anna Sui signature fragrance, that’s what I wanted as the base: rose. I think throughout the entire portfolio rose does come up a lot, but especially now in the Wild Wonder collection. Every scent has rose in it in one way or another.
How do you stay continually inspired to create new fragrances?
I think it’s just like design. There are so many things that stimulate me, or I obsess about, or I’m learning about, and you kind of just stay open and dream, and really think about what it is that inspires you. A lot of what we do with cosmetics and fragrance comes from my collections. And I think all the collections are really a study of whatever it is I want to learn more about or what I’m obsessed about, or just loving. Let’s say it’s Art Deco or Egyptian art, there are things that I really want to learn more about, and we put that all into the design—we do the same thing with the fragrance.
What is your most-loved scent out of the 50-plus perfumes you’ve launched over the years?
I guess my all-time favorite is Secret Wish. It was created in the early 2000s, and Jessica Stam was the model. And even when we did new fragrances, I’d wear the new fragrance for a while and always go back to Secret Wish. But once I smelled Electric Whisper, that was it, it’s become my fragrance.
A closer look at Anna Sui’s Secret Wish eau de toilette
Who’s the best-smelling person you know?
My mom, always. I remember when I was a kid when she would go out, she would wear Chanel No. 5, so that scent I always relate to her. But she just always has that freshness. Beautiful skin, beautiful nails, and just that freshness—that’s my mom. A lot of even my style and interest in fashion comes from her because she was always so well dressed. It was always interesting for me to go fabric shopping with her and look at pattern books and just shopping in general and seeing how she navigated it all. I think I learned everything from her. I have to say, she’s really my role model, and even to this day, it’s so much fun to get dressed together for occasions—it’s just super special.
Anna Sui’s Wild Wonder collection is available starting at $77 at annasui.com.
Tiffany Dodson Davis is the associate beauty commerce editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Don’t ask her to choose a favorite fragrance—it’s like picking a favorite child. As one of the brand’s resident shopping experts, she specializes in trend forecasting, testing the latest beauty and wellness launches, and curating bookmark-worthy commerce guides. Tiffany’s work has previously been featured in SELF Magazine, Bustle, and Teen Vogue. She’s also been tapped as a commerce and beauty expert for The Business of Fashion, NPR’s Life Kit podcast, and more.
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