Twice a year, it happens. Women all across North America flock to the internet and log on to LillyPulitzer.com. At 8 a.m., they are placed in a virtual waiting line among thousands and are granted access to the website one by one as those before them check out. The average price of an item? $100. It leads us to wonder how a brand gained such popularity and value. And the woman behind it all is Lilly Pulitzer—NY socialite, fashion designer, and corporate entrepreneur. My favorite designer celebrated her birthday last week and although she may no longer be living, her legacy lives on through her brightly colored floral designs and corporate empire.
Born a New York heiress of the Upper East Side, Pulitzer was not expected to be much more than a trust-fund-girl. In 1952, Lilly McKim eloped with Peter Pulitzer Jr., grandson of Joseph Pulitzer, the founder of the Pulitzer Prize. The loving couple then moved to Palm Beach where Peter could open a citrus grove.
Using her husband’s grove as a resource, Lilly decided to open a juice stand. After a few weeks, she noticed all her dresses were ruined from juice stains, and set out to design a dress that would mask these stains while she worked. The dresses she created had bold, tropical prints, using scraps of fabric she borrowed from a local seamstress.
Pulitzer’s creative patterned fabrics coined her brand, not her fashion designs. She only created two styles of dresses—one with sleeves and one without. Her basic dress shape became known as a “shift” dress and is a popular shape among fashion designers today.
Up until this point, Lilly's dresses did not get the attention they deserved, that is until Jackie Kennedy, the First Lady and Pulitzer's old friend from school in New York was photographed wearing a Lilly Pulitzer dress while on vacation. The shift dress made of a patterned kitchen curtain catalyzes a revolution of bright florals, and expensive summer fashion.
Today, the corporation has a central headquarters in King of Prussia, PA., and a name brand that includes 75 exclusive company-owned stores and “signature retailers” that also sell her beloved styles. The brand keeps its quality by only offering sale prices twice a year, which ensures only certain styles and prints are discounted, and keeps consumers checking back for dates. Lilly also releases prints four times a year, enticing buyers each season with a new collection of patterns.
Lilly Pulitzer's story is important, as it shows that people can break society's expectations and achieve greatness and that one simple idea such as Lilly’s patterned dresses, can be a catalyst for success. She not only created a corporation out of some old fabric scraps and hard work but a legacy.
And it wouldn't have been possible if Lilly herself didn't believe “Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink."
