Phillip Lim partners with Maya Lin for sculptural installation

New York Fashion Week is just days away, and many designers are still revealing surprises they had up their sleeve. First, Givenchy announced that they would be opening their show to the public, and now, Phillip Lim has announced that he will be partnering with Maya Lin, the artist behind the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D.C., for a sculptural installation for his runway show during NYFW. This is Phillip Lim's 10th anniversary show, so, he had to be sure to do something that would resonate with his fans for a while.

Lin first rose fame at the age of 21 with the Vietnam Veteran Memorial. As a teaser for the collaboration, Lim posted a photo on Instagram of Lin's permanent earthwork, "Wavefield", located at the Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, New York to give his fans a taste of what's to come for his runway show. Despite the current enthusiasm for the collaboration, Lin originally had no interest in working with Lim.

3.1 Phillip Lim runway show to feature Maya Lin installation

Lim met with Lin's partner Wen Zhou at a dinner, which was followed by a meeting at Lin's studio. Lin's original attitude toward the project was that "she didn't do fashion", but she was going to recommend someone else for Lim to work with. Eventually she changed her mind and produced some sketches for him.

The set in NYFW can often times be as important as the clothes. Take for example Elie Tahara's 2015 NYFW presentation where models were perched on a revolving platform on a revolving platform transformed into a makeshift forest, or Chanel's Parisian dinner party set for their F/W 2015 show. The title for Lim's show is "Stop and Smell the Flowers", and between the statue and the theme, it sounds like this will be a show with plenty Instagram worthy photo opportunities.