RED CARPET READY: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY 3.1 PHILLIP LIM!

Designer Phillip Lim and Red Carpet Roxy

What comes to mind when you think of collections by fashion designer Phillip Lim? Feminine, bold, whimsical, sexy, and unexpected perhaps? What comes to his mind when he thinks of the woman who wears his clothes? “She’s mad…mad, smart, funny, sexy, many different things….” And so it goes for his designs-think a skirt made of zippers, sequin embellished satin undergarments, beautifully placed cut outs, fabrics that hug the body and others that fall freely.

One of my personal favorites, the Zuzana gown

The Zuzana gown from the back

And I am speaking of the Women’s collection. Mind you Phillip has also has a Men’s line, a Kids line, and has collaborated with jeweler Cartier in his Fall 2009 Collection. Just today, I caught up with California native Lim as he celebrated the 1 year anniversary of his store in West Hollywood with a personal appearance and shopping day with his customers, benefiting the Art of Elysium. But how important is this kind of one-on-one interaction to him? Very, as it keeps him in touch with the needs and wants of his clients, and also gets him out of his “design cave.” No doubt Mr. 3.1’s success can be attributed to the fact that his design philosophy is built on refining rather than defining-the clothes comfortably capture individual style rather than force what isn’t there. The end result-effortlessly and organically chic with a few surprises thrown in. Which is why you have probably seen Tinseltown starlets like Rachel Bilson, Molly Sims, and Jewel, just to name a few, strutting their stuff on the Red Carpet in pieces from his collection. In fact, none other than “Hills” hottie Lauren Conrad stopped by to pay a visit to Phillip on this day of  his anniversary celebration.

Inside the 3.1 Phillip Lim store in West Hollywood

With all of his success, have there been any bumps in the road? He assured me he has had to deal with his fair share of ups and downs, but he has learned to “recognize the lows and perfect the highs.” But don’t think this means that he has reached his peak as he sees himself 5 years from now “figuring clothes out. I just want to keep on doing it better, making it better, delivering it better-the sky’s the limit.” He is well on his way.