This New York Fashion Week was an opportunity for designer Phillip Lim to refine his show strategy after his return to NYFW last season. Glossy spoke with Lim after his showcase on Friday about the importance of approaching NYFW with a unique perspective and the struggles of being an independent brand. We also heard from Chinese designer Taoray Wang about the opportunity for Asian designers to make a splash at NYFW.
How Phillip Lim is refining his show strategy
Last season, 3.1 Phillip Lim made a return to New York Fashion Week after a four-year hiatus from the runway. This season, Lim was back, but he refined his show strategy by trading out the glitzy runway impact of his return show for a more conceptual and open-ended installation.
The installation, which was hosted in SoHo on Friday afternoon, featured art, photography, poetry and abstract representations of Lim’s design ethos by a variety of AAPI artists. Lim’s fall 2024 collection was on display in a private room in the back.
For Lim, the time off from showing at NYFW gave him time to rethink the important parts of a show and ways of getting closer to his goals.
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“This past fall, when we decided it was time to come back to the runway, we wanted to make sure we did it in our way, in a way that still felt authentic and emotional,” Lim told Glossy. “When we took a break from showing back in 2019, it was because I felt that the theatrics of it had become soulless. It wasn’t a community — it was pure spectacle.”
He said the runway was the right format for last season’s comeback show, but he wanted to do something different this season. The showcase in SoHo, like many shows this season, lacked a traditional runway, instead allowing attendees to wander the presentation and take in the clothes and Lim’s aesthetic themes of the season at their own pace. That’s a big change from last September. But whatever the format, Lim said it’s important for designers to have a presence at NYFW.
“To be blunt, you must show,” he said. “It’s a tremendous vehicle. All eyes are on you. And as a New York-based brand for 20 years, we feel compelled to show up in unique and creative ways in our hometown, to give back to New York and bring that fire to New York Fashion Week.”
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3.1 Phillip Lim is an independent brand in an industry that’s increasingly consolidating around the big conglomerates like LVMH, Kering and Tapestry. Lim said he plans to remain independent, even though it presents a host of challenges.
“For an independent brand like ours, we don’t take anything for granted,” he said. “I always say that we serve our customer, and we live and die by the dress. If you don’t look good, I’m out of business. If you can’t figure out how to zip the dress, I’m out of business. I service the customer, and the customer is inundated with choices. So how do you create a brand that cuts through that noise, that stands for something? Because that is what will make her choose you.”
3 with Taoray Wang of Juzui
There was a wave of designers from Asia showing at NYFW this season, including Longshi from China, Sound of Ikebana from Japan, and Kimmy J and Charms from South Korea. These designers, many of whom are already established in their home countries, are banking on NYFW as their chance to get in front of a new audience and expand globally.
For Taoray Wang, a well-known designer in Asia, NYFW was a chance to contribute to the changing perception of China as not just a manufacturing hub but also as a leader in design and trendsetting. In addition to her namesake brand, Wang serves as the creative director of the Chinese luxury brand Juzui, which held a runway show at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea on Sunday, hosting celebrities like Maye Musk, Alexis Floyd and David Granados. Glossy spoke with Wang after the show about the inspirations for the collection, which included Chinese history.
What’s the toughest challenge facing fashion right now?
“There are many challenges facing fashion brands, from supply chain management to sales. Although technology has presented many good solutions and opportunities, the retail landscape has changed so much that it is harder to get good exposure and distribution in volume.”
What were some of the inspirations for this collection?
“I was inspired by Chinese peonies in full bloom, but I created my own version of the peony which is deeply rooted in Asian culture and poetry. The peonies expressed in my designs are an abstraction from my mind. I used the motif throughout the collection, stitched into leather, burned into velvet, woven into knits, embroidered as embellishments, and printed onto silks and wools. I was also inspired by the colors of the Song Dynasty, and rendered my designs in earthy browns, burnished coppers, emerald greens and muted blues, with sparks of pink, red and lilac.”
What’s the biggest benefit of showing at NYFW?
“China has always been factory- and manufacturing-oriented, traditionally known for strong supply chains rather than design. But in recent years, China has undergone many changes and is now focused on great design and taking that global. NYFW is an ideal platform to show this change to a global audience.”
