These 3.1 Phillip Lim ankle boots combine tan suede with a rust-colored textile upper, finished with oversized mixed-metal buckle hardware, cutout detailing, and a substantial black lug sole. Joanna dates them to around 2018—definitely pre-pandemic—and believes she bought them at Barneys New York.

“But I love them. They are very comfortable,” she says. For Joanna, they also belong to a particular chapter of the designer’s career: “Proper 3.1 Phillip Lim, when he existed—the real Phillip Lim.”

Phillip Lim launched 3.1 Phillip Lim with business partner Wen Zhou in New York in 2005, quickly becoming one of the defining names of the generation of independent New York designers that emerged in the mid-2000s. Known for clothes and accessories that balance downtown ease with polished construction, the label built a particularly strong following for its footwear and handbags alongside its ready-to-wear.