Phillip Lim, co-founder of the famous fashion label 3.1 Phillip Lim, recently won an honorable award in China Fashion Gala for his contribution to a cross-cultural understanding of fashion world. As an Asian American designer, Lim told Tian Wei about how he perceives his identity. It goes beyond what meets the eye.

Phillip Lim: China is in my heart. It's not in my eyes. It's in my heart. It's in my soul. 

People always ask me, when I first started this business, 3.1 Philip Lim, like 16 years ago: "Does being Chinese affect your design?" "Are you influenced by the stereotypical tropes of like satin and dragons and phoenix?" and so on. It's so disturbing to be so ignorant this way. It's superficial and so stereotypical.

For me, my business partner is Chinese too. We are both products of migrants. I always say to people, the Chinese in my designs is never what you will see, but what you will feel and you will respect. You will feel dignified. You will feel integrity because that's the value of China for me.

This is how I was raised by my Chinese parents and this is what we were taught. We were taught respect. We were taught hard work. But we are also taught that we deserve a space in this world, not just behind the scenes, but in front of the camera

Right now, especially with the pandemic too, the force of racism and xenophobic (is growing ever stronger) if I can be very honest. The narrative of the "China virus" is absolutely insane. It's so not correct. We know that this is a health and human virus. We have to stand up and keep speaking about that and not let them change the narrative. And being here (in the U.S.), living here, I see communities here in Chinatown, even elders and young Asian being bullied and attacked. For me really, that's unacceptable. And I use every opportunity I can to speak up and speak out against it. It's my civic duty.

World Insight with Tian Wei is an international platform for debate and intelligent discussion. It is the meeting point of both the highly influential and rising voices, facilitated by host Tian Wei. It provides nutrition to form your own thoughts and ideas through a 45-minute live debate and interviews.

Schedule: Monday-Saturday

Time (GMT): 1415, 2015

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