Philipp Plein is a German fashion designer and founder of the PHILIPP PLEIN International Group which includes the Philipp Plein, Plein Sport, and Billionaire brands.
Career
Plein was studying law when he began designing luxury dog beds. Soon his designs drew attention from experts within the interior design industry and in 1998, the company was founded in Munich, Germany. Plein started making bags and accessories from the leftover exotic leathers, which were sold alongside his design pieces at trade fairs. In 2003 the entrepreneur was asked to design a lounge at the German trade fair CPD Düsseldorf, for Moët & Chandon, where he was also allowed to sell his accessories. The initial namesake casual fashion brand was born a year later in 2004, while the current Philipp Plein luxury ready to wear label was launched in 2008. Plein is listed as one of the richest individual or family in Switzerland for 2019 by the business magazine Bilanz in their annual Die 300 Reichsten with a net worth of 300 million CHF.
Brand
Plein's first collections were vintage military jackets which he embroidered with Swarovski skulls and sold at the Maison et Objet in Paris In 2006 the accessories line was introduced and in 2008 the "Couture" collection was launched. In 2008 Philipp Plein presented his "heavy metal" collection at the "Germany's Next Top Model" fashion show. In 2009 he collaborated with Mattel and presented the Philipp Plein Barbie doll during Barbie's 50th Birthday celebrations at the Nuremberg Toy Fair. In the same year, the first store was opened in Monte Carlo, and the first commercial showroom in Milan. In 2010 Plein boutiques opened in Vienna, Moscow, St. Tropez, Cannes, and Kitzbuhel in addition to the opening of a showroom in Düsseldorf. The spring/summer 2011 women's wear fashion show debuted at Milan fashion week in September and took place in a deconsecrated 16th century church filled with white roses, with after party DJ set by Pierre Sarkozy, who was also face of the men's spring/summer 2011 ad campaign. Mischa Barton was chosen for the fall/winter 2010 season, while Lindsay Lohan posed for the Spring/Summer 2012 campaign. In 2011 the Hong Kong showroom was inaugurated. The FW 2011 women's fashion show taking place in February featured a pre-show orchestra performance, this time featuring DJ set by Peaches Geldof. In 2012, ten boutiques were opened, in Marbella, Moscow Crocus, Baku, Milan, Dubai, St. Petersburg, Seoul, Macau, Amsterdam and Berlin.
In 2012 Plein signed an agreement with the soccer team AS Roma to dress the team players starting with the 2012/13 season for 4 consecutive seasons. In 2013 retail expansion included the opening of stores in Porto Cervo, Moscow, Paris, Miami, Casablanca, Courchevel, Kiev, Hangzhou, Seoul and New York. 2014 store openings include Hong Kong, Los Angeles and New York, Ibiza, Bodrum, Doha, and London, the first Plein duty free at Vienna airport. The men's Fall/Winter 2014 was created by fashion show producer Etienne Russo. The men's spring summer 2015 fashion show and after party took place in an abandoned historic public swimming pool refurbished for the show. In February 2017 the men's & women's 2017/2018 fall/winter line was shown during New York fashion week. In May 2017 Plein hosted a coed runway show to display the brand's resort 2018 collection at his villa in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival. June 2017 Plein had 3 shows for 3 separate brands in Milan Men's Fashion Week. For Philipp Plein, Plein Sport, and Billionaire Couture. In 2018 PHILIPP PLEIN hosted a Fashion show in Brooklyn NYC with a live performance by MIGOS and a cast of supermodels like Irina Shayk for the Fall/Winter 2018/19 Collections. The show featured a huge production with a futuristic set-up including a 30 meters diameter UFO and an interacting Robot 2019 marked the 20th anniversary of the brand PHILIPP PLEIN. The anniversary was celebrated with a capsule men's collection for Fall/Winter 2019/20 presented during Milan Fashion Week in Milan at Palazzo Clerici. During the fashion show a performance by The Killers and a cameo appearance of Donnie Yen, a Chinese superstar. The anniversary celebration continued in February with a PHILIPP PLEIN coed fashion show and the first BILLIONAIRE fashion show in New York at the iconic restaurant THE GRILL. During the event a live performance of Lil Pump and Maluma and a VIP filled event with Paris Hilton, Bella Thorne, Coco Rocha, Mickey Rourke, Billy Porter and other international guests. Spring /Summer 2020 was presented at Social Music City in Milan on June 2019. A post-modern fashion show inspired by Mad Max Fury Road. Today the PHILIPP PLEIN GROUP counts 88 PHILIPP PLEIN monobrand stores and 26 BILLIONAIRE monobrand stores worldwide
