3.1 by Phillip Lim

After studying at California State University at Long Beach, Lim worked for Katayone Adeli as a design assistant. He then became the creative director and co-founder of Development. 3.1, which Lim founded with his partner Wen Zhou, debuted in the fall of 2005 and found instant success, both critically and commercially. In July '06, the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue magazine lauded him with the nomination as a finalist for the prestigious Fashion Fund Award. In his collections, he uses luxurious fabrics with unexpected details such as hand stitching and homemade accents that add dimension and personality to each piece. Lim says, "3.1 is about clothes that refine instead of define women. Sensual, confident, intelligent, individual, and most of all, beautiful."