To Be Empowered is to Be Seen: 3.1 Phillip Lim’s Wen Zhou on Their Exhibition Crafting Selfhood
The exhibition is on view until May 23 at 48 Great Jones St.
Photo by Angela Hau
3.1 Phillip Lim is much more than a fashion brand. Alongside its iconic signature shoes, bags, and statement apparel pieces, it strives to make a more profound statement. In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, 3.1 Phillip Lim has curated Crafting Selfhood, an exhibition celebrating thirteen Asian American women artists.
Crafting Selfhood draws inspiration from the brand’s latest handbag collection, ID, a reinterpretation of creative director Phillip Lim’s iconic ID bracelet and the organic lines of Anish Kapoor sculpture. The ID handbag, a symbol of community and craft, is brought to life through refined sculptural accessories and intricate hardware. Each piece in Crafting Selfhood, a fusion of ceramics and structural objects, encapsulates the craftsmanship, form, and technique of the artists’ creative processes.
Wen Zhou, co-founder and CEO of 3.1 Phillip Lim, says Crafting Selfhood expresses how artists share their heritages. Like Zhou and Lim, these artists utilize their crafts and art as vehicles to share who they are and what they do. However, they want this representation to go beyond AAPI Heritage Month — community is one of 3.1 Phillip Lim’s core pillars — so they emphasize it throughout the brand’s identity.
“Phillip said it best when he said having a dedicated AAPI Heritage Month is important, but we should be celebrating our communities every single day,” Zhou says. “Phillip and I are Asian Americans and creators ourselves — we are supporting our community and, at the same time, asking our community to support us. This is not just on us; we are asking everyone to show up.”
The exhibition is organized by Karen Wong, former deputy director of the New Museum, and Lora Appleton, founder of the Female Design Council and the Kinder Modern gallery. The artists featured in Crafting Selfhood include Janny Baek, Julia Chiang, Cecile Chong, Phaan Howng, Lena Imamura, Sonya Yong James, MyungJin Kim, Antonia Kuo, Eunji Jun, Halin Lee, Eny Lee Parker, Linda Sormin, and Steffany Trần. Each artist integrates heritage, identity, and even sly humor into each body of work.
An ID handbag installation accompanies each piece at the 3.1 Phillip Lim showroom. Some works include Kim’s garden-inspired terracotta vessels, Baek’s alien-like porcelain figures, and Chong’s GuaGua series of swathed ‘babies’ to serve as a socio-cultural message. Kuo’s tree-like sculpture personifies a dystopian landscape in contrast to Howng’s tropical planters. Yong James’ wall-hanging weavings are reminiscent of a bat cave, and Imamura’s flowered mirrors depict an LED of intimate phrases. Sormin portrays unconventional, beautifully ugly 3D misprints throughout her clay creations, Chiang has unique speckled ceramics, while duo Jun and Lee constructed soft bulbous totems. Parker gives us sculptural furniture, and Trần’s sprouting mushroom lamp gives us a sense of elegance, wit, and timelessness.
As an Asian American woman co-founder, Zhou realized how long it’s taking the art industry to encompass AAPI artists and artists of color. During NYCxDesign week, 3.1 Phillip Lim and Crafting Selfhood was the only AAPI female-centered show. While it came to her as a shock, it showed her the importance of 3.1 Phillip Lim’s work toward giving AAPI artists a platform.
“I am immensely proud of that, but also cannot believe we are the only ones,” she says. “We are making tremendous strides in certain areas, but the tide is moving a bit slower in the arts and fashion. Phillip and I have made it a part of our brand's mission to move the needle and be a platform for AAPI creatives.”
It truly does take a village. Crafting Selfhood required all hands on deck, many of whom were also women. Zhou made it a priority to work with those who inspire her.
“I am excited to be able to collaborate closely with co-workers at work from each department,” Zhou says. “Brand, PR, partnership, retail, and my logistics team, along with my close friends Karen and Lora, my daughter Ming Chen, who worked on the opening with us, as well as our friend and intern Roxanne Chao. There are so many collaborators who brought this exhibition to life. They say ‘it takes a village,’ and it does, and to share it from our store, which is the heartbeat of 3.1 Phillip Lim, makes me very proud.”
You can visit the Crafting Selfhood exhibition at the 3.1 Phillip Lim flagship store at 48 Great Jones St. until May 23.
