Within a year, according to Zhou, the label was breaking even. The exec says she’s able to keep costs low by capitalizing on the strong relationships she’s developed with factories in the U.S., Hong Kong, and elsewhere in China and by operating “without fluff,” by which she means such practices as eschewing expensive advertising in favor of cultivating positive word of mouth.

“Being in the fabrics industry for as long as I have been, you get the opportunity to meet a lot of people and get important contacts,” explains Zhou, who says her two other businesses generate about $28 million in annual revenue. “These contacts have proved to be crucial to our success.” Her work at Gwendolyn, for example, has helped her identify the least expensive, most reliable manufacturers in China.

Zhou, who grew up in a Chinese village of just 120 people south of Shanghai, started Aegis in New York in 1994, when she was just 21. Two years earlier, as a salesperson for a textile company, she had discovered that she loved not only working with the company’s designer customers but also handling and discussing the luxurious fabrics she sold.

Having grown up at her seamstress mother’s knee, Zhou realized she had an intuitive sense for talking about fabrics. She was able to tell customers about the technical aspects of various cloths, like yarn count, material, weave, and sheen, and also to describe the less tangible aspects, such as how the fabric felt against the skin, how it might drape on a silhouette, and the sensations it evoked when stitched into an item of clothing.

“I love clothes. I understand clothes,” she says. Despite her extensive experience with fabrics and clothes, she has left the design and artistic direction to Lim, focusing solely on the business side.

“She never says, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that,’ ” Lim says. “I have complete autonomy.”

Today, 3.1 Phillip Lim is carried in 250 stores around the world, and the company recently expanded its line to include menswear and children’s clothes. Its first boutique opened in the trendy Soho district of New York in July, and stores are planned for Los Angeles and Tokyo in 2008.

Zhou continues to run 3.1 on a relatively tight budget, with about 42 employees. When the company started, the diminutive Zhou did everything from dragging 25-pound cartons around town to picking up hors d’oeuvres for a reception when a last-minute glitch arose with the caterer. “I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty,” Zhou says, laughing.

And despite the label’s success, Zhou is not about to abandon her careful approach to growth, as demonstrated by her negotiations with Bergdorf.

“There are many manufacturers and wholesalers who are opportunistic—they want to sell as much as they can today,” says Bergdorf Goodman C.E.O. Jim Gold. “Wen’s patient, and she’s building for the future.”