Last week, our co-founder and CEO, Wen Zhou, received the highest honor - the Legacy Award - at the 2024 TAAF Awards Dinner.
Wen was first introduced to the garment industry when she got an after-school job in a factory at the age of 13, just one year after arriving in the US. She would go on to start her own company selling fabrics to both major design houses and independent designers alike, at the age of 21. That was where she met Phillip Lim, then the young, LA based designer of another brand and they became fast friends. In 2004, at just 31, she encouraged Phillip to move to New York, and together, they started 3.1 Phillip Lim, debuting at New York Fashion Week in 2005 to immediate fanfare.
Twenty years later, the brand has over a dozen global stores and distribution in 40 countries around the world. Over the last two decades, Wen has led 3.1 with love and respect to set a framework where creativity and sustainability can flourish. After surviving the pandemic, Wen led the brand into a new era with a triumphant return to the runway in September 2023 and global expansion. This year, the company will celebrate the huge milestone of 20 years.
Thank you TAAF for honoring Wen with this award. Thank you Wen for being our constant role model and fearless leader - you are so deserving of this honor.
Photo: JP Yim/Getty Images for TAAF
Product Management: Product Development & Production
3moGo Wen Zhou!