A look from the Target collecton

A look from the Target collecton

Phillip Lim and the SoCal Connection

Everyone is going crazy over the 3.1 Phillip Lim collection for Target that was unveiled Monday night in New York.

But does anyone even remember that Lim developed his designing chops in Los Angeles?

Lim grew up in Orange County, studied at California State University in Long Beach and even worked for a while at the Barneys New York store in Beverly Hills. He did a stint designing for Paul Frank Industries (think Julius the monkey) before co-founding Development in 2000. It was a line of simple duds for women in their 20s.

Lim was at Development until 2004 when he left for New York to partner up in business with Wen Zhou. The two of them were 31 at the time, hence the 3.1 Phillip Lim label name.

And, as they say, the rest is history.

Lim has won some prestigious design awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and now is looking forward to his special collection for Target debuting on Sept. 15 with looks that epitomize Lim's flair for clean looks with touches of whimsy.