3.1 Phillip Lim S/S 2016.
Photo: courtesy of 3.1 Phillip Lim.

Landscape artist Maya Lin, known for creating the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, teamed up with fashion designer Phillip Lim for his spring 2016 runway collection, which debuted in New York on Monday.

As a complementary installation to his “stop and smell the flowers” theme, which involved rich satin crop tops, shorts, and jackets in earthy neutral tones and floral motifs, Lin produced seven mounds of toxic-free compost, titled Seven Earth Mountain, that were dispersed throughout the industrial pier where the show was held. The installation weighed 200 tons.

Lin told the New York Observer, “I think we both appreciate the beauty of simplicity and the power of simple lines.”

Maya Lin, Seven Earth Mountain, (2015).
Courtesy Maya Lin Studio, Pace Gallery, and 3.1 Phillip Lim.

This environmental project is a topic both parties are familiar with: Lim had a short-lived “Go Green Go” eco-friendly fashion collection in 2009 and Lin’s foundation, What is Missing?, is dedicated to increase awareness of endangered species and habit loss.

A percentage of the soil used will be donated to the New York Restoration Project for local community gardens and the rest will be used where needed around the city. The brand 3.1 Phillip Lim will also donate to the Carbon Fund in order to offset the carbon footprint of producing the installation.

Since creating the veterans memorial in DC, Lin has gone on to make other large-scale works such as Storm King Wavefield at Storm King Art Center in upstate New York and A Fold in the Field at Gibbs Farm in Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand.

Lim and his business partner, Wen Zhou, celebrated the brand’s 10 year anniversary after the presentation with a dinner party in Brooklyn.

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