Anna Sui draws deeply on her personal cultural memories to create the uniquely real-woman-friendly fashions that are winning converts on both coasts, both uptown and downtown.

"What we're producing is an unnecessary thing," Sui says as a matter-of-factly. "The business I'm in is like gambling because you never know what's gonna sell." Something that sold for years may suddenly drop dead, or a style may last merely one season. "Sometimes," Sui says, "they just don't want clothes."

Fortunately for Anna Sui the last decade has seen the appeal of her unnecessaries broaden from trendy downtowners to 30-something career women looking for more versatile looks.

Sui's strength is in knowing exactly what her customers want. "I love what I do," says Sui, "but it was tough to learn." She wants to be certain that you understand -- her success didn't happen overnight. "When you own your own business, you're responsible for everything, even for things like the garbage and making sure there's enough water in the water cooler." And when her creations finally leave her warehouse she must frantically find solutions to all the problems that are suddenly uncovered. "Fabric, fit, zipper, something will go wrong. In fact, it's a miracle if nothing goes wrong."

The secret to success, says Sui, is in trusting your instincts and learning to pick yourself up from a failed season. As owner of a business that grosses nearly $4 million a year, Sui must keep one eye on expanding her consumer base while preserving a clear sense for her core appeal.

Even with her fast-growing cultlike following and regular coverage by the fashion media, Sui finds it difficult to have her designs presented properly. Department store buyers ponder how to categorize her designs because they don't fit any of the traditional molds. It isn't a designer collection, they fret, nor is it exactly juniors or contemporary. "They'd ask how they should sell it," says Sui, revealing a touch of impatience.