In 1991, Meisel, Paul Cavaco and Sui's supermodel friends, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista, got together and encouraged her to try a runway show. Sui rented a small space in the Meatpacking District and paid the models by giving them the clothes. The successful show was the biggest breakthrough of Sui's career, with "The New York Times" commenting in reference to Sui's celebrity runway models: "That those beauties and Evangelista were then at the height of their fame helped stoke the reception Sui got from buyers and the news media."