The year was 2011, one of the most pivotal years for Millennials passionate about fashion blogging. At that turning point, blogging was no longer just a hobby but a career path, setting the precedent for today’s social media landscape.

Before the term “influencer” was coined, they were known as pioneers of the digital fashion boom. The originals included Chriselle Lim, Susie Lau, Eva Chen, Bryanboy Yambao, and more.

It was the era of Indie Sleaze, Tumblr Grunge, and Americana Prep, when people wore skinny jeans with almost anything, anywhere. Weekend nights out often meant bodycon dresses and sky-high pumps, thanks to Hervé Léger and Christian Louboutin’s Daffodil heels.

Budding fashion enthusiasts like myself followed the adventures of stylish fashion bloggers who took incredible street photos, serving looks that captured the moment. Among the standout names, at least for me, is Chriselle Lim.

WHAT STARTED IT ALL

Her start in the industry began when she was introduced to fashion blogging and YouTube, and she didn’t expect that creative outlet to grow as much as it did. She recalls, “I was in college, aiming to become a stylist, and I was interning at many PR companies — including a well-known one, Karla Otto, when they were opening their Los Angeles office.”

On the side, she had a blog that became a way to share her styling projects. Michelle Phan’s introduction to video creation transformed that concept into The Chriselle Factor. It became a hit because of Lim’s approach to fashion: her step-by-step videos went viral for their aesthetic and for her focus on everyday style, grounded in personal anecdotes.

For Lim, it comes down to a mix of great product, content, and the right timing.

“It’s always a mix of great product or content and the right timing — something people don’t talk about enough. All the stars have to align at once. Back then there were only a handful of us, so as the industry evolved, we became the go-tos. When brands opened up fashion week invites and shows, they’d always include us, which was exciting because those doors had typically been closed to people like us.”

Brands, which had been elusive about their guest lists, started opening up and inviting bloggers to shows — an inconceivably new practice at the time, since those doors had typically been closed off, reserved only for talent, magazine editors, and the fashion world’s inner circle.

Asked whether she encountered skepticism about her chosen career path, Lim’s answer was immediate: “Definitely.” After all, it was relatively unknown territory; no one had any idea how it would turn out.

“By that time, we were starting to see small financial opportunities,” she says. It wasn’t plentiful, but it was a start, even as eyebrows were raised at runway shows over this young group of newcomers. Lim remembered how people would ask, “Who are these kids sitting front row when editors who’ve been there for years should be there?”

She gets up from her seat and returns with a copy of Digital Girls, a photography book by Marko MacPherson and writer Steff Yotka that explores the life of the fashion circle. She flips through page after page until she lands on an image of herself sitting front row alongside Rumi Neely, Aimee Song, Bryanboy, and a few other notable names.

“Family and friends didn’t understand either, but I’ve always been a bit of a black sheep, doing things my own way. I’d already dropped out of school as an accounting major to pursue fashion, and no one understood that decision either, including me, honestly, in terms of how I’d make it into a career. So on the personal side, it was mostly just, ‘oh, that’s Chriselle being Chriselle.'”

Even though the road ahead was murky, Lim landed her first paid collaboration with Coach for Vogue’s Fashion Night Out. She hosted the night alongside Hanneli, Kelly Framel of The Glamourai, and Emily from Into the Gloss.

In that moment, she remembered the excitement of being in a room with the people she looked up to in fashion, while being compensated for it. That was when her mind began thinking about real opportunities to monetize what she loved. “Kerry Diamond, the woman I became close to, is someone I am most grateful for, since she introduced me to this world.”

CHRISELLE X PHLUR

As her brand began to expand, Lim started looking at other projects, and during a very difficult and devastating divorce, she found Phlur. The brand was struggling back then despite its attempts to break into mainstream outlets, and by 2021 it had been acquired by Ben Bennett of The Center, which led to Lim coming on board.

For her, it was a cathartic experience — she was able to use the process of fragrance-making in a way that spoke to her story at that time. As Creative Director, Lim flipped the switch with her debut fragrance, aptly titled Missing Person; she described it as her breakup album, and instead of using the usual ingredients and marketing strategies for perfumes, she went her own way by bottling visceral emotions through storytelling.

“I talked about feeling broken and lonely, and how the scent brought me comfort — people responded to that relatability because they’d felt it too,” she says.

Four years later, Phlur had achieved commercial success with a string of scents that had since become viral: Father Figure, Vanilla Skin, Cherry Stem, to name a few. The brand hit several milestones along the way, including a new campaign titled Icons, starring two-time Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee, and a recent acquisition by beauty giant TSG.

“I always compare finding a partner to dating — you really have to get to know each other. I’d heard great things about TSG from other beauty founders, and it felt like the right fit from the start. It mattered to me that they understood beauty and that they were committed to preserving how Phlur built its business — through storytelling and authenticity — without changing that. Once they agreed to keep Phlur exactly as it is and simply support its growth, it felt right.”

With Lim leading its creative direction, she’s learning how to balance innovation while remaining true to the brand’s ethos — a welcome challenge she’s currently navigating. “The challenge is that we’ve made a real splash over the last four years, and a lot more people know Phlur now, so the question becomes how we keep evolving and elevating while staying true to how it started. As demand grows, so does the pressure. As creative director, it’s about trying new things while returning to the core of the brand.”

For her, the goal is for her audience to feel their truest selves whenever they wear a Phlur product. She’s had customers come up to her, telling her they combine scents in ways she never thought of. “I love that — they’re making it their own. There’s no rulebook for layering and mixing; I want people to create something that feels most like them,” she said.

Phlur, she explains, goes down a road not many brands would ever take and that’s precisely why it found success the way it did.

The vulnerability and rawness Phlur chose to present wasn’t something the fragrance industry had really seen before. Brands used to sell a fantasy, just think of nearly every perfume ad you’ve seen, built around confidence and freedom. But that’s just one of many components that helped build the brand.

“For Phlur, that meant finding white space: at the time, there weren’t many niche fragrance brands at our price point — that were beautiful but most of them were priced around $250. We did our homework on what the market actually needed, and we created scents that were genuinely unique.”, she said.

FASHION WEEK THEN VS. NOW AND AVOIDING THE CREATIVE RUT

Over the years, Lim’s relationship with fashion week has drastically changed. Gone are the days when she’d go from one big show to the next in a span of days and weeks during the Big Four’s presentations. Now, she takes a more intentional approach, genuinely doing the things she wants to do, like supporting small business owners and emerging designers.

“I don’t attend fashion weeks as often anymore, but I still do a few things I genuinely want to. I try to balance brands I love with ones I believe in, especially small, up-and-coming designers. Early on, I mostly went to the huge shows; now, while I’ll still do one big show and this year it’s Calvin Klein, who I’ve worked with for years.”

For a brief moment, Lim pauses to address one of her daughters, who’s wandered into the room off camera. “Sorry about that, I’m a mom of four kids, and they’re all home today, so one of them coming in is bound to happen!” she says, laughing. “Where was I? Oh, fashion week —”

She goes on to detail some of the designers she works with. “I’ve built a lovely relationship with Ashlyn, a young Korean designer and mother who’s built a beautiful brand on her own. I know how hard it is to build something from scratch, and I know that me wearing their pieces can genuinely move the needle for them.”

Another exciting development: Lim’s recent inclusion in the inaugural edition of Vogue’s Beauty Board, where members share shopping recommendations and wishlists. She’s also on the board of Fashion Trust U.S., which cultivates the next generation of young designers. “I find a lot of excitement there — I think the next wave of major designers is coming from these smaller houses, where there’s less pressure to create something that will simply sell, and more freedom for genuine creative expression,” she said.

“That’s art, and you don’t see enough of it from the bigger brands right now, since so many of them end up chasing the same audience in the same way. It feeds my creative soul to spend time with these smaller designers.”

This is proof, once again, of the influence she still holds in the community. Ask her how she feels about today’s TikTok trends — think quiet luxury, “old money” style — and the one thing she wants other creators to know is this: while it’s fun to follow trends, it’s just as important to have a solid foundation and a clear sense of what you stand for.

“You need a clear sense of what you believe in and the message you want to put out and trends can be sprinkled in on top of that. I haven’t tried things like ‘Beauty maxxing’ yet, but I don’t dislike them. The risk is that if you build your whole identity around trends, you’re just feeding into what everyone else is doing, and you won’t stand out. So my advice is always: sprinkle in the trends, but figure out what your real message is what you want to be known for, whether you’re a brand or an individual creator.”

But her biggest piece of advice for today’s creators starts with a simple but pointed observation: algorithms on platforms like TikTok and Instagram surface an endless stream of polished outfits, makeup looks, and trending formats — but very little of it sticks. Most of the people behind that content are forgettable, she says, precisely because they’re optimizing for the trend instead of for who they actually are.

Her solution is a personal exercise she often returns to: naming the three things that matter most to her. For Lim, that’s authenticity rooted in her own life experience and reinvention, helping women make smarter, more confident life decisions by being open about her choices and setbacks, and her long-standing love of all things skincare. Once those pillars are clear, trends become something to layer on top not the foundation itself. That, she says, is what separates a memorable creator from the crowd of people making similar content.

After two decades in this world, Lim is no stranger to burnout, she went through it multiple times over her career. What’s changed is her relationship to it. Early on, she felt obligated to post constantly to stay relevant, a pace she now recognizes as unsustainable. These days, her content calendar is driven less by strategy and more by genuine impulse: if an idea excites her, she executes it immediately; if she doesn’t feel like posting, she simply doesn’t.

“That’s not the best advice I can give, especially if you’re building a highly consistent business online. But for me, at this time, with my personal brand, it works with the kind of life I have now. For Phlur, of course, it’s different,” she says. Admittedly, it wasn’t easy —there was a nagging fear about relevance, about whether her audience still related to her work. But she reached a turning point: either try to keep up, or prioritize what’s best. She chose the latter.

Still, she maintains some control over her personal brand by staying the creative force behind it. “I still edit, write captions, and post most of my personal content myself, because I fall in love with an idea and need to execute it right away,” she said.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR CHRISELLE AND PHLUR?

As of this conversation, Lim launched her collaboration with the clothing brand Splendid, which grew out of an organic, years-long relationship with the label. That relationship led to a limited collection between her and the brand, one that’s already running out of stock. She also has a personal project in the works, which she’s keeping under wraps for now. “I can’t share details yet. But broadly, I want to keep telling stories and help other women navigate whatever they’re going through. We all go through so much, and I want to help build a community of women who can share their stories and inspire one another. That’s all I’ll say for now.”

For Phlur, Lim hopes to see the brand further expand into Asia, following the success of its activations in Spain and France. She also points to future product categories beyond fragrance. “We’re also focused on innovation, particularly in body care — body oils, deodorants, and similar products have performed really well, so that’s a big area we’re building out next, since scent is such a driver in that category.”

One big takeaway from Chriselle’s story, from her beginnings as an amateur blogger to becoming one of the most recognized names in fashion and the creator community — is how, with fortitude, she managed to create the life she actually wants for herself without asking anyone for permission. It shows in the way she dresses and carries herself, in how she leans into her role as an entrepreneur, all while being a mother. The throughline to who she is has always been there. It’s Chriselle being Chriselle.

For more on Chriselle, follow her on Instagram @chrisellelim and check out http://www.phlur.com

Credits: Photographer and Creative Director Hannah Rozelle | Editor-in-Chief Natalie Tran Steger | Words and Interview Managing Editor Cyan Leigh Dacasin | Graphics and Design Kevin Conopio | Producer Great Social Club | Photographer’s Assistant Maydiuly Baldriche |Videographer Dillon Puswald | Stylist Greta Schacht | Stylist’s Assistant Lalo Ambris | Hair Takashi Ashizawa | Makeup Kimi Duncan via Nico Quarantino of Forward Artists