Quotes By Phillip Lim

My mother was a seamstress, so making clothes was not something you would willingly go into.

I'm shy.

My mother has become my daughter and I've become her guardian.

Being from a very traditional Chinese-American family, my parents believed the only options to have a successful life were to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer or a business person.

I'm not such a public person.

There is a secret hippie within me.

I don't have a life where it's galas, posh affairs. It's me, my dog and a sofa. And a TV.

I think my parents were immigrants, you know, so I guess I would be first generation. Growing up in California.

I started in college as a business major and finally transferred to home economics and studied making clothes.

I have always had a relationship with clothes.

When people ask about inspirations, and you're like 'oh, it was a flower or a mountain or a pony', some people just think you're insane. I'm worried to come across that way.

You know, for myself, my personal journey has been a very fortunate one and I would say to people it's like the stars lined up and the skies opened up and the sun shined and I met the right people - was at the right time. And, most importantly, you know I love what I do.

Just because you work in the fashion industry, it doesn't mean you live your life in fashion.

I try to always have flowers in the house. I have a florist in Chinatown, and they deliver orchids every two weeks. I like living with living things.

When I say that I'm a businessperson and a dressmaker, it's the truth. I run a business, and I make dresses, I make blouses.

I love crazy, gaudy bling.

You can make jeans and a t-shirt super stylish. It's what you make of it, you know?

I'm really a classicist at heart - with a bit of madness!