Lilly Pulitzer, a company which is now regarded as the quintessential American fashion brand for all that is preppy, all started with a juice stand in Palm Beach. Since, Lilly Pulitzer, commonly referred to as “Lilly,” began in 1959, it has delivered a wide variety of bright, colorful patterns that can be seen in the forms of dresses, pencil cases, and day planners. What began as a hardly well-known brand has spread across America and is viewed by many Friends school students as the uniform for events such as Point to Point, final assembly, and graduation. The bright patterns and simple cuts of the dresses make them perfect for summertime celebrations. Although Lilly items have traditionally been highly priced, the brand recently joined with Target to produce a new line of more affordable products. Hundreds of peopel waited with anticipation in the lengthy lines when Target opened on the morning of the brand’s release. Within hours, shoppers had cleared the racks of all of the items, which included nail polish, dresses, coffee mugs, hammocks, bathing suits, and other miscellaneous goods. Although Lilly is a classic and beloved brand, the new relationship between Lilly and Target sparked a lot of controversy, especially regarding whether or not Lilly is truly being made available to more people.
A normal Lilly Pulitzer shift dress is priced between eighty to three hundred dollars, but the Lilly Pulitzer for Target line sells dresses that are below fifty dollars. This reduction in price has made the dresses more accessible to shoppers who cannot afford the higher priced dresses. Sammie Conner ’18 is happy with the company’s decision to offer items at a lower price and shared, “I think it’s good that expensive brands are branching out so that everyone who wants to wear the clothes can [wear them].” Since the Lilly Pulitzer for Target line was so successful, shoppers can most likely expect more high-quality brands to reach out for a relationship with Target.
Although Target sold Lilly Pulitzer products at lower prices, has it really made the brand more accessible? Kate Mraz ’16, who frequently sports Lilly Pulitzer, stated, “I think the idea would have been better if the stock wasn’t so limited. People cleared the shelves before anyone else could buy the products, and many Target stores have not yet restocked. What made it even worse was that people sold what they had bought on Ebay for elevated prices, which defeated the purpose of trying to make Lilly Pulitzer more affordable.” An example of the inflated prices as the result of the limited release of the brand includes a dress originally sold at Target for forty dollars now on Ebay for twice as much. Now, shoppers are conflicted because they cannot decide if they should risk overpaying for the Lilly Pulitzer for Target clothes or if they should just splurge on the higher-quality Lilly Pulitzer clothes.
Many Lilly Pulitzer fans were ecstatic when they heard about the relationship between Lilly and Target, but it seems like the companies benefitted more than shoppers did. Since the demand for the less-expensive Lilly Pulitzer clothes is so high, it has been suggested that it would appease more costumers if both Target and Lilly Pulitzer extended the release of the clothing line in order to produce more goods. Because of the success of the Lilly Pulitzer for Target line in stores, shoppers should expect the Lilly line to stay in stores for the long term, and for other designer brands to partner with Target to try and copy the Lilly for Target model, making high-quality clothes fashionable and affordable.