Phillip Lim Celebrated a New Beginning—and His Birthday—at the Launch of PlayLoveWin

On Tuesday evening, friends and admirers of fashion designer Phillip Lim gathered at Có Lạc, chef Helen Nguyen’s Vietnamese restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village, to celebrate two milestones: the launch of his new label, PlayLoveWin, and his 53rd birthday—which also happened to be the first birthday party he had ever thrown for himself.

Photo: Quadir Moore

Ezra William, Phillip Lim, Laura Kim, Prabal Gurung

Ready to mark the moment, the guest list brought together ballerina Misty Copeland, fellow designers Prabal Gurung, Peter Do, and Laura Kim, and newly-minted campaign star Ronny Chieng, among many others. “In 53 years, this is the first time celebrating my birthday—and finally, I feel that I should celebrate myself, because I deserve it,” Lim told the crowd.

Cocktail hour began upstairs in the cozy restaurant, where guests sipped Tepozán tequila-forward cocktails, including Soda Xí Muội, Lychee Saketinis, and Palomas, before heading downstairs for dinner. The lower level felt even more intimate, with tables arranged in distinct vignettes throughout the space: some with just two seats, others with six to 10.

Disposable cameras were placed on the tables for attendees to document the evening themselves. And blank cards on the tables posed three questions: When do you play? How do you love? What is your win? “Throughout the night, I’d love for you all to share stories with each other,” Lim instructed. “I think those kinds of stories let us be vulnerable, get to know each other, and we get to see each other in such a different way.”

The evening marked a new chapter for Lim, who walked away from the namesake company he had spent more than 20 years building in October 2024. “I wanted to get back into creative play. I wanted to relearn the process, to re-love it again,” he said.

Lim initially planned to take a break, but while traveling in Asia later that year, he agreed to an unexpected work meeting in Shanghai, China. It was there that the idea for PlayLoveWin crystallized. The main concept, he recalled, came to him intrinsically: shirts. “When you put on a shirt, it’s a fresh start, a reset,” Lim noted. “A fresh shirt is a new chance to play, love, and win again.”
Photo: Quadir Moore

Tina Leung

Photo: Quadir Moore

Laura Brown, Preppy Pete
Photo: Quadir Moore

Misty Copeland
Photo: Quadir Moore

Brie Welch, Peter Do

“It’s so Phillip that he’s starting with shirts,” said Laura Kim, co-founder of Monse. “I love the name PlayLoveWin—it reminds you to have fun, love what you do, and make it big. I’m so happy for him.” Kate Berry, editor and creative consultant, has admired Lim’s work since her 20s, long before the two met. “I wore his clothes with such pride, because he’s an Asian designer, and there weren’t a lot of Asian designers doing what he was doing, in the place he was doing it, and being recognized for it,” Berry said. Of PlayLoveWin, she added, “I admire so much that he’s going so deep into the craftsmanship of tailoring and shirt making.”

Elevated, modern Vietnamese dishes, including steamed coconut rice cakes and fried rice, served in mini kabocha pumpkins, were shared family-style as conversation, laughter, tears, and repeated cheers filled the room. Right after the main entrées were served, Prabal Gurung stood to give a toast. “I watched you walk away from something you spent years building,” he said. “You took time to travel, to search, to listen, and to return to yourself. And from that journey came PlayLoveWin.”

As the evening came to a close, the restaurant surprised Lim with a custom cake—shaped like one of his new shirts—as everyone sang Happy Birthday. “I needed to make sure that I was surrounded in an intimate setting by folks that have been with me since day one; my found family, people from the campaign, people I admire, and people I have affection for. And they’re all here,” Lim beamed.