Lily Pulitzer Dies at 81

Lilly Pulitzer Rousseau, the socialite who turned designer, passed away today at her Palm Beach, FL, home at age 81.

The cause of death wasn't immediately known, but WWD reports she was to have been in failing health for the past few weeks.

Pulitzer started an orange juice stand in 1958 after looking for a hobby to help bring her out of a bout of depression in her late twenties. From there she started creating brightly colored and boldly patterned shifts and blouses to help hide the stains from her juice venture. And thus, Lilly Pulitzer we've come to know and love was born.

The clothes were a huge hit and within a few years were sold by stores throughout the U.S. First Lady and style icon Jacqueline Kennedy was featured in Life Magazine wearing a shift by Pulitzer, who, coincidentally, had been her classmate at Miss Porter's day school.

Pulitzer had found her niche in sunny prints and bold colors. She refused to veer far from what worked for her. When pressed to develop cold-weather fall collections, she resisted. "It's always summer somewhere," she famously replied to one retailer pushing her in that direction.

"She sprinkled fun and pixie dust everywhere she went and was joyful right until the end," said Kathie Orrico, a partner at C. Orrico, the specialty retailer that operates three Lilly Pulitzer stores and carries the line in its other four stores as well. "I saw her just last week and, just like always, she had cute phrases and words that inspired us to be bright and happy.

"Palm Beach is really the only town in the entire world that has its own look and its own designer," Orrico said. "All her designs reflected the light and the heart that she brought to the world."

James Bradbeer Jr., president of Lilly Pulitzer, noted, "Lilly would always say, 'It's all about happy.' There aren't many places in our industry where happy is at the core. That has transcended time and generations, and it tells you a lot about the kind of special person that Lilly was."

Pulitzer had remained a consultant to the company after its 1993 acquisition and revival by Sugartown Worldwide Inc. (the firm headed by Bradbeer and Scott Beaumont). Oxford Industries Inc. then acquired the firm in 2010.

Oxford released a statement Sunday saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are with [Lilly's] family and loved ones. Lilly's bright and happy outlook on life is the essence of the brand that bears her name. Oxford is proud to be part of her legacy through our ongoing stewardship of the Lilly Pulitzer brand."

Her death was noted on the Lilly Pulitzer Facebook page at noon on Sunday, and the Lilly Pulitzer Web site updated its home page to read, "We celebrate the life of Lilly Pulitzer, 1931-2013" on Sunday afternoon.

"Our responsibility was to bring the brand forward with a clear message in place - for the best times of your life, with prints and colors as its support," Bradbeer said Sunday. "We built on her template, but she would hate the word 'template.'"