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We may never have heard the name Phillip Lim if he'd stayed on his planned career route; he was originally studying finance but swapped number crunching for fashion.  Although, he didn't give up numbers entirely, calling his label 3.1 Phillip Lim, a nod to his numeric past or the fact he launched the label when he was 31 back in 2005?  Since then his success as designer has skyrocketed, with a female, male and kids line as well as an eco diffusion range called Go Green Go.

Left: Phillip Lim