Phillip Lim | Photo: But Sou Lai

NEW YORK, United States — “I always believed in making clothes with affordable prices,” said Phillip Lim, one of the many young designers to have emerged in New York over the past few years. But unlike his peers, when Lim launched his label back in the autumn of 2005, he made a conscious decision not to compete in the high-end designer category. Instead, Lim’s vision was to offer his customers beautifully made, well-designed clothing at a contemporary price point.

Lim’s fashion journey began with Development, a Los Angeles-based line he started with partners in 2000. But four years later, after relationships turned thorny, Lim walked away from the label. Soon after, a friend he had met in Paris convinced Lim to come to New York, just to ‘hang out’ for the week. That friend was Wen Zhou, who would soon become chief executive of Lim’s new brand and his new business partner in an entrepreneurial venture that is on track to turn over more than $60 million this year — not bad for seven years of hard work.

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Sparkle Roll Luxury World | Photo: Timothy Coghlan

BEIJING, China — With Chinese luxury consumption projected to account for 20 percent, or US$27 billion, of global luxury sales by 2015, it’s no secret that big international fashion brands are racing to establish and expand their retail operations in the country. But as competition for prime real estate surges, it’s clear that not all brands are treated equally. While some find it relatively easy to secure retail space, others have to fight tooth and nail, or create strategic partnerships, to have any hope of opening stores.

The ‘big five’ brands — Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Hermès and Cartier — have no shortage of options in cities all across China and can be highly selective in choosing their locations. In most cases, Chinese mall operators and real estate developers will bend over backwards to entice these five brands, offering lucrative leasing terms, long rent-free periods and large subsidies to build and outfit stores. For the smaller brands that belong to large luxury conglomerates, the easiest way to secure store space is to leverage the group’s power by insisting on multi-brand deals. In this way, the dominant brand of the group (Vuitton for LVMH, Gucci for PPR, Cartier for Richemont) will enter a mall only on the provision that the selected smaller brands in the group are also given desirable spaces.

In this context, even brands such as Burberry, Lanvin and Tod’s are at a disadvantage. So how do fashion brands, without the backing of large luxury groups, stand a chance of securing retail locations that will allow them to get a foothold in the country and tap the booming Chinese market?

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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.

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