Lilly Pulitzer designs on show at Palos Verdes Art Centre

26 Aug '13

2 min read

“Loving Lilly: Lilly Pulitzer From the Keni Valenti Collection”, an exhibition paying tribute to the American fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer who greatly influenced fashion during 1960s to the 80s is currently going on at the Palos Verdes Art Centre in California, US.

On display at the exhibition are 150 wonderful menswear, womenswear and childrenswear created by Ms. Pulitzer, including the 1950s shift dresses to 1970s groovy pantsuits, a bridal gown, a beaded headdress and also a wild, sequined and feathered costume the designer wore to her son’s birthday party.

The display pieces now form a part of collection of Miami-based vintage clothing collector Keni Valenti, who spent about three decades assembling famous couture collections. Besides, Lilly Pulitzer, Keni also has collections from Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Halston and others.

Ms. Pulitzer’s foray in the fashion world was quite accidental as living in Palm Beach as a young lady during 1950s she usually kept herself occupied running a juice centre using fruits of her husband Peter’s citrus groves. Doing this, by end of the day, she often developed many stains on her clothes. In an effort to hide those stains, Ms. Pulitzer created a simple, colourful patterned shift dress, and this is how a new designer and clothing label Lilly Pulitzer was born.

The “classic shift dress” shot to international fame and demand when Lilly’s old schoolmate Jacqueline Kennedy née Bouvier, then the First Lady, was photographed wearing a “Lilly” dress made from kitchen curtain material, while on a vacation.

The designer, who passed away in April this year at the age of 81, has had many affluent clients including Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts and the Whitneys, and still the appeal of her dresses remains intact.

The exhibition is slated to run through September 29, 2013.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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