Fashion Designer \"Lim Knows How

¶ … Fashion Designer

"Lim knows how fashionable women want to dress."

-Nicole Phelps Vogue

Phillip Lim launched his first collection with money he borrowed from a friend and fabric supplier Wen Zhou in 2004 (NY Mag 2010). His collection became a critical hit almost immediately after the launch. What helped spur his popularity was the fact that "It" girls like Natalie Portman and Kate Hudson adored his creations (2010). This helped fuel the demand of more than $12 million wholesale by his third season (2010). He is known for creating garments for women that have both a girly sort of refinement as well as a laid sensibility. Some of his creations also have a quirky quality to them, which appeals to original and creative wearers like Kate Bosworth and Scarlett Johansson (2010).

Lim has three labels -- 3.1 Phillip Lim, kid by Phillip Lim, and Go Green by Phillip Lim. The first label, 3.1 Phillip Lim, launched in 2005, is ready-to-wear and resort style clothing and is similar to ready-to-wear labels like Theory, Chloe, Marni, and Vince (NY Mag 2010).. Kid by Phillip Lim is an American children's line of clothing that was first launched in 2007. Go Green by Phillip Lim was launched in 2009 and is ready-to-wear clothing as well with an eco-inspired touch.

Phillip Lim is the son of Chinese immigrants. He grew up in Orange County, California, where his mother worked 18-hour days as a seamstress in a garment factory (Dorment 2010). He has said that coming from a very traditional Asian-American family, he felt compelled to go into a career like law or medicine, so he went to college and majored in business. Lim notes that it took him three years to realize that he hated business and he ended up graduating with a degree in home economics (sewing, nutrition, nursing, etc., which they now call consumer sciences) (2010). He then took a small internship at a small clothing label. He always loves clothes, he says, but he never considered a career in fashion until he began designing women's clothes for an L.A.-based line called Development in 1999 (2010). In 2004, he went to Manhattan to start his own label and he named it 3.1 Phillip Lim -- the numbers were a play on his age at the time.

He says that at the time it felt like the "doors were always just waiting to open for me" (Dorment 2010). His first few season were only women's wear, because he knew women's clothing best and he garnered all sorts of praise, but he had always wanted to do a men's line. He says that was always a part of the plan (2010). In January of 2010, Lim came out with his first line of men's wear.