Since his 2005 debut at New York’s Fashion Week, 34-year old, Orange County California-born designer Phillip Lim has emerged as one of fashion’s biggest stars. His 3.1 Phillip Lim line, featuring sleek sportswear for men and women, has already been honored by Fashion Group International, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in under four years! Now, after opening his New York flagship store and a second branch in Tokyo, Lim is coming home, opening his third shop in his hometown (or hometown region) of Los Angeles.

Perhaps because of his own youth and lack of a long resume, Lim made what some might consider an unusually bold choice to create his new, West Hollywood shop. Instead of going with a big name design firm, Lim chose a three-person outfit called Para-Project, a troika of neophytes with nary a big name project in their portfolio. Of course, this is exactly what attracted Lim, who says: "I consider the lack of built work a positive aspect. With 'experience' comes ingrained assumptions about what’s possible and what’s not." Lim’s risk-taking resulted in a shop that’s so understated and cool; the storefront doesn’t even feature a display window. Probably because, when you’re one of the hottest young designers around, you don’t have to shout to get noticed.