Chase Sui Wonders' Aunt Is A World-Famous Fashion Designer

Chase Sui Wonders may have been thrust into the spotlight due to her rumored romance with comedian Pete Davidson, but she was already on her way there anyway.

Sui Wonders is an actor, writer, and model who graduated from Harvard University, where she majored in film studies and production. A creative soul through and through, she developed a strong interest in the arts at a young age, thanks to her older brothers who introduced her to a bunch of eclectic films. "We'd always watch 'Austin Powers,' 'Undercover Brother,' 'Die Hard' — all these over-the-top B movies," she told The Face. ​"As a strange way of expressing myself, I would embody [Mike Myers' character] Fat Bastard and other unsavory portrayals." But Sui Wonders' big break didn't involve acting goofy. In 2017, she was handpicked by the one and only Sofia Coppola to be part of a Calvin Klein campaign. "She had an insane, soft power that was all-consuming when you were around it," Sui Wonders told W Magazine of Coppola, who happens to be one of her idols. And by 2020, she found herself linked to a handful of projects, including HBO Max's "Generation."

Interestingly, just like Coppola, Sui Wonders is also an arts scion. If you can't already tell by her name, the Detroit native is related to world-famous fashion designer Anna Sui.

Chase Sui Wonders knew she had a shot at making it big in the creative industry because someone close to her had managed to reach the pinnacle of success. Sui Wonders' aunt just so happens to be Anna Sui, an acclaimed fashion designer whose works were seen on the likes of Madonna, Naomi Campbell, Paris Hilton, and Bella Hadid. "I think it was so huge for me to see a person in my family do something so creative and be so great at it," Sui Wonders told Teen Vogue of her aunt. "It's been so inspiring to see her pave her career path. She's been such a role model."

In her W Magazine interview, Sui Wonders also shared the perks of having a world-famous designer as an aunt. She said that she and her cousins would get first dibs on Anna Sui creations and Sui would customize the pieces for them. "When we were three, four, and five, my aunt would let my sister and my cousins and I pick our favorite looks from her shows, and then she would shrink them down," the actor recalled. "Like these giant fur coats for toddlers. We would then put on our fashion shows because we had so much of her clothing." They even got to sit front row at her shows, too. "When we were little, we would sit front row, but on the ground," she added. "In some videos, you can see us on the runway crawling around and fighting."

Despite being exposed to fashion at an early age, Chase Sui Wonders claims she's anything but a fashionista. "I was very unfashionable as a kid. I was an aggressive tomboy for most of my youth, so I would wear ill-fitting khaki pants and my ice hockey sweatshirts with stains on them," she shared with Who What Wear, adding that she's not really the best muse for Anna Sui. "I don't think it was the best canvas for my aunt to paint on." But while she was far removed from the fashion world, Sui's success served as her motivation to explore a career in the arts, especially since her father wanted different things for her. "My dad is a very traditional Chinese father and definitely didn't make acting seem like the most welcome career option, but then, I would just point to his sister, and he couldn't really say anything," she dished.

Sui Wonders ended up focusing on acting, all while still dabbling in other creative projects. And sure, she might not be as fashion-forward as her aunt, but she's the creative force behind some of her campaigns. "With fashion videos, there's so much creative freedom," she told Women's Wear Daily of her involvement in co-directing Sui's fashion films. "Narratives can be wonky. There's a lot of room for play."