Lilly Pulitzer has been helping Lilly Lovers lead a more colorful life for over 50 years. Last week was no exception. In partnership with our friends at the Make a Wish Foundation, Lilly Pulitzer welcomed 6 year old aspiring Fashion Designer, Kylee, for a magical visit to the Pink Palace. Kylee and her family joined us for a day of print, painting, designing…and of course SHOPPING!

Her day was so special that we just couldn’t leave out any of the fabulous details. Here’s the play by play…

11 AM: Kylee and her family arrive at the Pink Palace in a BLACK STRETCH LIMO…how fun is that?! Janie Schoenborn, Fashion Director, greeted her and quickly whisked Kylee away for a tour of the office, starting with the famous LP distribution center. (where we receive and ship out all of our colorful clothing to you!) After touring the DC, Janie and Kylee worked their way around to Merchandising, Design, and Product Development. Janie introduced Kylee to some new faces and walked her through the process of how we create a Lilly shift.

Noon: The tour ended where the magic begins…the print design studio!  Kylee was met by print designers Stacey and Paige, as well as our Fashion Designer, Abraham who sat with Kylee to design Lilly prints and colorful dresses. This is where Kylee’s true passion for design came out…you should have seen the colorful styles she was drawing!!

12:30 PM: The tour, painting and designing had us work up quite an appetite!  The hostess with the mostess, Lilly veteran Pat Borjeson, helped prepare a wonderful spread of PB & J and pink and green floral cupcakes…we were in HEAVEN.  Kylee snacked while she sat with Janie, the print designers, and met some of the other Lilly ladies that work in our offices who stopped by to say hello.

1:00 PM: Think the day is over? Kylee did…but guess again. This was our most favorite part of the day…and we kept it a secret from Ms. Kylee until the last second. Janie surprised her after lunch by whisking her away in the Lilly Jeep to the King of Prussia store for a (drum roll, please…) SHOPPING SPREE! You know what we say at Lilly, too much is never enough!  Kylee tried on everything from bathing suits to skirts to dresses…and because no one could pick a favorite, we let her have them all! (I mean really, like we were going to make her choose.) We even threw in a dress for Mom so they could match.  Kylee walked out with 4 BIG shopping bags (bigger than she was!) and a huge grin on her face.

All in all, it was an incredibly magical day for Ms. Kylee but all of us at the Pink Palace who got to meet Kylee and be a part of her special day would probably say it was just as magical for us.  A big THANK YOU to our friends at the Make a Wish Foundation for allowing us to be part of it and to everyone who helped make Kylee’s day so special.  This Friday, April 29th, is World Wish Day.  You can support Kylee and wishmakers just like her by making a donation to the Make a Wish foundation. Find out more here.