Looks from Lim's fall 2007 collection.   (Photo: Courtesy of Phillip Lim)

“My accountant said, ‘You’re crazy,’ ” Zhou says. “In the first six months, we did $2.8 million in sales.” She shrugs. “So we made it back.”

And then some: The fall 2007 season did $12 million in sales. “Crazy, right?” she says, and laughs.

Lim and Zhou have managed to keep their costs down through discipline. “No excess,” says Zhou, and you believe her. Lim has only the smallest design department—three employees—and they work mostly on logistics. Much of the production is in China, and the duo’s ability to communicate in Chinese is infinitely helpful. “It’s more than just language,” Zhou says, “it’s a cultural thing. I don’t know how it works if you’re not Chinese.” And, of course, Zhou supplies much of the fabric.

At Lim’s opening party, the air-conditioner wasn’t working, and his guests were flushed and sweaty. The most comfortable were the girls in the Phillip Lim dresses that seemed perfectly suited to the weather, yes, and to the party, but also to the moment happening outside the tall glass doors and across Prince Street, and to the East, and the West. It’s a new kind of brand for New York—one it turns out we really, really wanted.