Pheobe Lu is on her own time

Phoebe Lu is the founder of Melbourne’s online archival clothing store Feeber Archive, stocking predominantly Japanese designers from Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons to Yohji Yamamoto. Her curation extends beyond garments to the shopping experience itself, with each pop-up turning into an interactive space through collaborations with friends and the local community. On a rainy night, I texted Phoebe to see if she wanted to chat over lunch. I made her a wagyu poké bowl. 

Van: When I texted you three weeks ago, you said you were burnt out. What happened?
Phoebe: I'd just gotten back to Melbourne from Shanghai and was trying to figure out some pop-up logistics, so I had a really burnt-out day. But it's all good now.
Van: What kind of logistics?
Phoebe: For me, the pre-planning part is about finding inspiration and figuring out what I want the pop-up to be and feel like. When I can't find that, I end up feeling stuck. And then it's like you keep trying every day to find new things, and that's what led to my burnout.

Van: So when it clicks, does it come more from intuition, or from research and planning?Phoebe: Definitely research, and I look at seasonal trends. Fashion is very seasonal, so you have to decide on the pop-up idea depending on what season it's going to be held in. The process usually starts with basic inspiration and how I want the customer to feel. For my last pop-up 一起飛吧, it was in November and that was the first event I planned with my team.

Van: I loved that pop up. I spent so much time just dilly dallying and playing mahjong. I've never hung around a pop up that long before. It was so interactive.Phoebe: Thank you so much. I try to create a new kind of modern retail experience. I travelled to Japan, Korea, and China, which really opened my eyes. Their retail spaces and experiences feel so enjoyable compared to shopping in Melbourne specifically. I'd want to stay in their stores and interact with any installation they had going on, and that became the main inspiration for what I want to bring to Melbourne.
Van: Have you ever felt like you're competing with yourself to make each project better than the last? If so, how do you manage that?Phoebe: Yes, a hundred percent. I think growing up I've always been a very competitive person, but more in the sense that I'm hard on myself. I always want to do better, because I've always felt that what I create isn't the best of my potential.Van: Same. I always feel I can do better.
Phoebe: But that's part of the journey! Whatever you create at a given time is a learning experience for the next project. I think a lot of big creatives, like directors, make many movies in their life, but only a few are widely appreciated. At the end of the day, they can still say, "I really like this particular work because it captured how I felt at that point in my life." So, I'm trying to be more positive about my self-competition and just work with the mentality that if I like it and I'm proud of it, that's all that matters.

Van: What does it mean for you to feel truly free in your work?Phoebe: That's a good question. I don't think anyone has ever asked me that, and I don't think I've ever asked myself either. Thinking about my previous pop-up, 一起飛吧, it reflects a mentality of aiming high and seeing how far you can reach. For me, feeling truly free is about not having a strict timeline and doing whatever feels right, whatever inspires you, and executing it based on how you feel in the moment. Another good rule I recently learned is that even if your work is 85 percent done, just put it out there and learn from it instead of obsessing over the last 15 percent. Just do the best you can, and you can always try again.


Read the full conversation in print. ISSUE 02