Lilly Pulitzer Rousseau, the iconic fashion designer of the brand that
featured her name, died in Palm Beach, Fla., today, according to her company's
Facebook page. She was 81 years old.
"Lilly has been a true inspiration to us and we will miss her," a
statement said. "In the days and weeks ahead we will celebrate all that
Lilly meant to us."
The company added of its founder: "Lilly was a true original who
has brought together generations through her bright and happy mark on the
world."
Her schoolmate Jacqueline Kennedy, while
First Lady of the United States, was photographed wearing one of Pulitzer's
dresses and made her a star.
The dress "was made from kitchen curtain material, and people went
crazy," Pulitzer said in her book, "Essentially Lilly: A Guide to
Colorful Entertaining."
"They took off like zingo. Everybody loved them, and I went into
the dress business."
Her career sprang from her husband Peter's citrus groves, SI reported
in 1968.
She opened an orange juice stand in Palm Beach, and designed her own
colorful cotton shirts for herself to work in comfortably in the heat and
humidity.
Soon, customers wanted to buy her shirts as well as the O.J.
Soon Lilly Pulitzer began a collection of informal dresses, called
"Lillys," and then began designing clothes for girls and a men's
sportswear line.
Lily McKim took the surname of her first husband, Herbert Pulitzer, and
later added the surname of her second husband, Enrique Rousseau, as well.
Both marriages ended in divorce. She is survived by three children from
her first husband, and the successful Lilly Pulitzer brand continues to this
day.
R.I.P.
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