Lilly Blog

Greetings from Palm Beach and Happy 2010!

We just couldn’t wait until New Year’s Eve to uncork the champagne and bring in the band! On Wednesday, December 30th (yes, New Year’s Eve’s Eve) Lilly Pulitzer celebrated the wonderful work of the American Red Cross at The Beach Club, in Palm Beach. Guests were greeted with “Pink Lilly” cocktails and fire dancers (why not!), and were even offered the opportunity to pose with real live mermaids, upon entering the ocean-side   venue (yes mermaids are real in our world). The dress code for the “Beach Bash” was Lilly or Louder, and guests did not disappoint! From well worn and long loved, vintage Lilly’s to beaded chiffon maxi dresses from our current collection, the clothes were clearly the hit of the evening! We want to thank our friends at the American Red Cross for all their amazing work and dedication!

Wish you were there? Now you can relive every moment! Later this week we’ll be posting video footage from event along with tons of party pics. We’re even going to play a little game of “Who Wore It Best” and you get to vote!

Fear not, if you were unable to attend this ahh-mazing Palm Beach event we’ve got another one headed your way the end of this week. Lilly Pulitzer’s grandson Christopher Pulitzer Leidy will be wowing the Palm Beach Gardens Lilly Pulitzer store with his breathtaking under water photography.  See our facebook event section for all the details!! Hope to see you there.

Xx

Janie talks on a panel at a conference on coral this week in NYC! Read on for more info and find out how to be there!

AS YOU KNOW, I am a jewelry collector, worshiper, knock down your grandmother for vintage hunter…I love jewelry. SO, like I said it is one of my favorite things.

You may also know by now that we have planned to have our Resort 09 collection (eeeeeeee, shipping to stores near you now!!!! It is in the warehouse and it is tdf) inspired by the OCEAN and all things water. ONE thing we are doing in celebrating our Lilly Loves Green year is raising awareness for The Ocean Conservancy. The OTHER cool thing we are doing is raising MONEY for Seaweb and their Too precious Too Wear Campaign…a charity that protects the oceans coral reefs.

I CANNOT tell you how much inspiration my team and I get form the Ocean. It is so vital. We have books and books of pictures WE have taken, and on cold winter days when we are working on summer, we look through our snaps of the beach, the shells we have collected, the trips we have taken to visit different bodies of water. Fish. Whales. Octopus. It goes on and on. It makes me SO SAD to think that we are polluting our oceans. So, we are working to raise YOUR awareness so that we are stronger TOGETHER.

SO. Back to jewelry. Ahhhh, it all comes back to that doesn’t it.
YESTERDAY I had the most delightful conversation with…drumroll please…STEPHEN DWEK. If you don’t know about Stephen’s jewelry line, please rush to Bergdorf Goodman or Neiman Marcus and ogle it IMMEDIATELY. I have been collecting his pieces since…hmmm, birth? Not really. But Stephen takes beautiful stones – BIG ONES, and uses them to create his organic, humongo gorg line.

Why were we chatting on the phone? WELL, Stephen and I, along with an extremely talented fellow named David Wolfe (he is the creative director at Donegar Group which EVERYONE looks to in the “insider fashion world” for trend forecasting). Well, the three of us will be on a panel. On a STAGE (I love a stage and mic, you know this!) discussing…and this is the official working here:

Coral as Motif and Material in Fashion

We were having a pre-chat on the phone so…(well probably so I know what the heck was going down.) This is what I do know. As a designer and creative force in fashion Lilly Pulitzer is unquestionably KNOWN for being beach and ocean-centric. Without it…a big chunk of our inspiration would be missing. We love coral and use it in our print design, our jewelry design…our interior store design. Using the REAL THING may not be the best as if not harvested correctly we can seriously damage this precious natural resource. So we are using it as inspiration…like in the above print for instance.

So Stephn, David and I are working to get the word out from a fashion point of view. Are you in NYC the end of this week?

Please register for CORAL: SYMBOL, SUBSTANCE, and SIGNIFICANCE, taking place Friday, October 30!

WAIT, oh and of course there’s a p-a-r-t-y to kick it all off. At our Mad Ave store Thursday, October 29th from 6-8. That evening we will unveil a very special necklace that we have designed to raise money for Seaweb and the Too Precious Too Wear campaign:

So please, come have some hors d’oeuvres with me, shop the coral collection and HELP US raise awareness and funds to protect our coral reefs. Xx

Janie dives in and shares some childhood memories and her love for the ocean. Stop by to chat with her and meet Chris Leidy tomorrow night at Lilly Pulitzer on Madison Ave!

Hi!

When I was little I spent holidays at my grandparents house on the island of Montserrat in the West Indies. Unfortunately, it all went to “ ____ in a hand basket” when the volcano blew-up, and we no longer have that family house. (You think I am joking but I’m not) My first trip was when I was 6 months old and from then on we went every Christmas and Spring Break for year and years…I learned to swim in those waters. Because the island was volcanic the beaches were black and we would always burn our feet running to the ocean. The waves were HUGE (or so they seemed to me). It was so exotic. We ate papaya and shopped in the local markets. The dress maker would come to our house and make dresses for my grandmother out of the crazy colored local prints. It was truly amazing…

My fondest memory was the ocean. It was beyond anything I could imagine. We would fly in a teeeeeny tiny plan onto the island and Iremember looking down at all the colors of the sea. The white caps…the different shades of blue and black (scary!).

When I was there my cousins, brother and I would spend all day in the water. LITERALLY ALL DAY. We would go to quiet alcoves and I would float under the water with my mask on, seeing the most incredible sights. Things that I could have never imagined…all in the most peaceful state until…the CRASH of the waves and the scene would change. I learned so much under there. It may sound silly, but to have that perspective is truly a gift.

When I saw the photographs of Chris Leidy it IMMEDIATELY took me to my own undersea adventures. There is a calm to the images and an intimacy that truly leaves you breathless. It’s almost as if for one second you can feel the peacefulness and the quiet of his undersea world. I have so many questions for him! Is it quiet? Do you ever touch those turtles or do the tarpon swish by you and send you reeling. Is it as peaceful as I imagine? HOW do you get those turtles to sit still and smile

The Lilly Pulitzer on Madison Avenue is very, very honored to be hosting Chris’ latest show…AQUA ART. Please come visit…or click for a glimpse into his world.

OH, and did I mention. He is Lilly’s grandson. I mean, AMAZING! Talent obviously does run in the family. And he is JUST about the cutest thing I have ever set eyes on ( I’ve only saw a snapshot thus far but I got the ‘picture’ so to speak).

See you tomorrow!

TOMORROW~ Thursday, September 10th: you won’t want to miss out on this one. Especially after you READ all about what’s in store from Janie below. Come join the party!!!

Hi all…

Leave it to VOGUE. I mean, seriously. S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y. If you do not know every detail on FASHION’S NIGHT OUT please read on. This is a once-in-a-lifetime night for fashion and I don’t want you to miss it!!!!!

As you know I like to give a sneak peak into our world…how we do what we do. HOW ON EARTH are we lucky enough to be involved with Vogue on this amazing night? FASHION! Sooo, it was months and months ago. Can’t remember exactly, I am always hazy on details. I was in NYC doing something I am sure very important…and that evening I was meeting my very dear friend Sarah for dinner. Sarah is the queen bee of beauty at Vogue, meaning BEAUTY DIRECTOR. Insert into your thoughts here…she is MAJOR. She is funny, gorgeous, an amazingly talented writer, and a very old friend of mine. We met downtown at a yummy Mexican joint. Sideline…margaritas are one of life’s greatest joys.

So Sarah says to me, oh oh oh JANIE, you are going to have to get involved in this shopping night we have planned in September. I know she said SO MANY more fabulous things about it but this is what my brain took away…(remember before mentioned margaritas)

SHOPPING & COCKTAILS….

‘TIL REAL LATE!!!!!!!!!

So the gist is, Anna Wintour is a genius and recognized that fashion needed a shot in the pants. A little excitement! Something to rally around!!!! So for one night only, you get the designers. I mean, you really get the designers. If you are at Macy’s, there is Michael Kors. Bergdorf Goodman…Isaac Mizarahi. EVERYONE who is in NYC and has their own collection, big or small, will be celebrating fashion and shopping with you. When was the last time you had Carolina Herrera help you pick the perfect sheath? AHHHHHH.

It is ABOUT TIME we began to celebrate the following…

Silk cocktail tops that show all your important bits and GUARANTEE a second date…A dress that has a huge peacock printed on it - I mean WHO would do that?!?!?!
Irrationally embellished 5″ heels…earrings so big you could serve dessert on them.

From basic to extravagant, fashion is a passion. And we are going to celebrate it all night. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO, the most important question…WHAT ARE WE DOING AT LILLY PULITZER? Hold onto your hats. WHATEVER you have written in your datebook for tomorrow night…grab the white out.

In SHARPIE please write…

go to Lilly Pulitzer store and visit Janie!

This is what we have planned…PAINTING. With abandon. We are going to paint a wall or two (I am feeling like our Madison Avenue store needs a mural?)

We are going to paint the windows. Put our print right on the glass. And we are going to paint IN the windows. Set-up tables and paint right there so eeeveryone on Madison Avenue knows to stop in. And we are going to paint pictures for YOU. Spend $500 and you can sit down, design, and customize AAAAAAAAAAAAAAANYTHING.A Lilly Pulitzer print just for Y-O-U. Should we paint faces? I mean, cocktails WILL BE INVOLVED so who knows. Please envision this…

The print studio is MOVING to Mad Ave for the day. Music is good and loud. Cocktails in all shapes and sizes. Print designers helping you shop, painting the walls, painting anything we can get our hands on. THAT SOUNDS LIKE FUN!!!!!

Lilly Pulitzer is known for her parties and we are planning to really let it rip Thursday…we will start at 4pm-ish and pack-up at 11ish. You never know, you may find us there on Friday morning. Wink wink.

If you can’t be on Madison Avenue (boo hoo), look for other events on LillyPulitzer.com or tune back in Friday for the gossipy recap!

xx

Janie

Last week we hosted an on-campus event at a local DZ sorority house and brought the Lilly store to them! 30 girls sipped cocktails and shopped racks hand picked for them! Girls who spent over a certain amount were able to place an order for a polo with their letters on it! We had so much fun that we’d love to party with more of you! We can come to you or you can take over your local Lilly store for private shopping. Let us know if you’re interested. Send your sorority, school and contact info to service@lillypulitzer.com. Hurry get on our Fall calendar to make sure your sisters are stylish for the school year!

Cheers!

This past weekend In the Pink on Main Street in Chatham, MA celebrated Lilly’s 50th Jubilee! We took over the front lawn with vintage garments enticing vacationers to stop inside and try on something new…no one was leaving empty handed! As the day progressed we served cupcakes and cocktails and danced to the bandstand music across the street. It was a good old fashioned New England weekend complimented perfectly by pink! Stop by Mashpee Commons as the Retrospective and the Lilly Jeep travel up-cape for another party this Saturday!

Brooke Shields and Town&Country Mag hit our Madison Avenue Lilly Pulitzer Store by storm last Tuesday night. There were over 300 people (invite only) who squeezed in to join the fun and share in our celebration of color. Brooke was there to promote the Colorful Cause designer collection done with 8 other celeb moms with proceeds benefiting EBMRF. You can check out these celeb styles at your local Lilly store or shop online! Come on, it’s for the kids (no really, it is.)

We had so much fun with our Facebook Fans this week! We first of all want to thank everyone for helping on our quest for 13,000! As you know about a week ago, we challenged Lilly Lovers everywhere to expand our Lilly Family. If we met our goal, 20 lucky fans were going to be invited to have a private tour of the corporate office. Although we were 100 fans away from reaching our 13,000 facebook fans goal on Tuesday night…we were SO impressed with the enthusiasm from our fans (and always love an excuse to throw a party), that we decided to pick 20 lucky Facebook fans anyways. 5 fans were able to make it wednesday and we had another 11 today. On Wednesday, Scott Beaumont, CEO, gave a history of the brand on and tour of the building while Rebecca one of our print designers wow’ed them with upcoming prints for next summer. They also got a sneak peak of the Resort ’09 line! There were squeals of excitement, lots of smiles, and of course hugs to go around.

We’re already up to 13,650 fans today… how quick can we get to 25,000? Suggestions? Facebook@lillypulitzer.com

Our Madison Avenue retail store celebrated the unveiling of the Jubilee retrospective with a jam packed week of in-store events! Madison Avenue has partnered with the Union League, Big City Moms, and St. James Church to host events this week. Most notably, Madison Avenue partnered with Big City Moms for a Shop and Share event this past weekend. The shopping event was in store and the brought the whole family in for the festivities. There was cookie decorating, face painting, and musical entertainment for the Minnies. These ladies sure know how to shop. But don’t worry we’ll be restocking for the rest of you- haha!

Cheers!