Wen Zhou, CEO of 3.1 Phillip Lim. Photo: Akira Yamada
NEW YORK, United States — Mention the name Wen Zhou to the average fashion fanatic on the street, or even ‘important’ fashion editors, and they may shrug their sh0ulders, not recognising the name. But, mention her name to fashion industry insiders, especially retailers and independent fashion brands, and invariably the words “dynamo”, “amazing” and “genius” will be volleyed right back at you.
As CEO of 3.1 Phillip Lim, Wen has earned the respect of the industry for her entrepreneurial mindset and can-do attitude, propelling the 3.1 Phillip Lim business from fledgling start-up to international fashion business—with retail stores in Tokyo, New York and Los Angeles and annual revenues exceeding $42 million—in just over four years.
Wen’s special skills in fabric sourcing, production management combined with sound business judgment have enabled the 3.1 Phillip Lim business to stake out a positioning in the market that is not easily replicated by others, combining a strong design point-of-view from Phillip Lim with high-quality, made-in-China production and accessible price points enabled by Wen’s strong relationships in China. Together, Wen and Phillip make a formidable team.
I recently caught up with Wen in the 3.1 Phillip Lim studio in New York and over lunch in Paris to talk about how she is coping with the economic downturn and the ideas she has up her sleeve for Phillip Lim in the year to come.
