Handbags

Before there was Kate Spade, there was Lilly Pulitzer. She passed away last week at the age of 81, and if you’re under 30, you may not be that familiar with her, but for many American women, she was the first designer to introduce bright, happy colors and bold floral print shift dresses. You could say her designs were a predecessor to some of the most successful resort wear brands today. Trina Turk, Nanette Lapore, Kate Spade, Michael Kors and yes, Tory Burch, come to mind almost immediately as modern brands that have capitalized on the use of bright and bold color combinations in relaxed, easy silhouettes.

Yet Lilly never set out to be a fashion designer. In a recently published NY Times article, we learned that Lilly Pulitzer’s entry into the fashion world was somewhat of an accident.

“As the story goes, in its most romanticized version, Ms. Pulitzer’s fashion empire, famous for its tropical print shift dresses and lighthearted embrace of jarring color combinations like flamingo pink and apple green, was born out of necessity.

In 1959, after opening a juice stand among the citrus groves of Palm Beach, Ms. Pulitzer, an heiress herself who had married young into the wealthy publishing family, needed a dress that would camouflage the stains of orange and grapefruit spills. So she had one made, creating a look that proved to be so popular it would become a mark of membership for old-money families at play for more than five decades. Her vividly flowered housedresses became known, in the shorthand of the rich, simply as Lillys.”

While the Lilly Pulitzer line was extremely popular in the 60′s and 70′s, it was re-invigorated 20 years ago by a licensing agreement and today, it’s a thriving fashion business again – with annual net sales of over $100 million. It seems so simple, looking back at it now, but there’s always got to be someone exceptional behind the introduction, the execution, and ultimately the acceptance – of a fashion trend with staying power.

In a world where the term “fashion icon” is so carelessly tossed around and applied to people that have been in the public eye for about 10 minutes, in my humble opinion, I think Lilly Pulitzer deserves a nod of appreciation and a moment in the sun for her contribution to a distinctly American style of dressing: Colorful. Carefree. And the Pursuit of Fashion Happiness that is our God-given right !

So, in an effort to do my part in paying tribute to the late Ms. Lilly, I’m sharing these photos taken last summer at our own Lilly Pulitzer Signature Store at the Biltmore Resort.

I dare you not to smile…

R.I.P Lilly Pulitzer, 1931-2012.

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Tagged as: American fashion designer, Jacqueline Kennedy in Lilly Pulitzer, Lilly Pulitzer, Lilly Pulitzer signature store at the Arizona Biltmore

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