With an aesthetic so deeply entrenched in the city, it’s funny to think that Phillip Lim spent the better part of his childhood hanging out at the beach. The New York–based designer returned to his West Coast roots for his latest collection, filling his mood board with the weird and wonderful characters of Venice Beach, California. Bohemia isn’t exactly a place you’d expect to find fans of the brand—then again, Lim isn’t peddling tie-dyed shirts and flip-flops for Resort 2017 either.
Borrowing from the language of surf and skate culture, where the idea of cool-looking clothes comes before performancewear, Lim re-created many of the best-loved things in a SoCal wardrobe. The rash guard is in there, though not as you know it—finished with a tweedlike basket weave and silk ruffles at the collar, the piece reads more cocktail-hour-in-Soho than anything else. The classic Hawaiian shirt gets a nice upgrade, too, with a subtle black-and-white pattern that barely registers as tropical, even if the color combo—turquoise and persimmon orange—falls into familiar territory.
There are flower child references that go beyond the beach here, as well, including a blossoming psychedelic motif that appears on one of the label’s signature double-breasted suits and also on a standout micro-pleated slip dress. Lim isn’t the first to take boudoir dressing out into the open, though he does treat the trend with a more practical hand than most—many of his slips come with modesty-preserving metallic insets at the décolletage, flattering sheer chiffon sleeves, and chunky zippered straps. It’s a look he’s calling “industrial boudoir,” and it’s one that we’re guessing will have solid universal appeal.
