Chinese-American style icon

One of the hottest names in fashion is Phillip Lim, the new darling of the American catwalk. Gan Tian explores his success story.

Top models and celebrities were out in force, and the fashion runway was perched on top of Dongbianmen, a 600-year-old landmark in Beijing. This was Chinese-American fashion designer Phillip Lim's first show in Beijing, and he was wowing the gathered fashionistas with his collection of slim-cut jackets, black-and-white shirts, loose pants, leather bags and gloves. His outfits were hanging on the country's top models, including Du Juan, who was making a rare appearance at home with Lim's white qipao-inspired evening dress, shimmering with diamonds. Also on the catwalk were top models Pei Bei, Sun Feifei and Qin Shupei. And right with them were A-list celebrity guests Geng Le, actress Gong Beibi and Japanese football player and fashion icon Hidetoshi Nakata.

For designer Phillip Lim, the show was "paying tribute to my homeland" and his Chinese ancestry.