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Lilly Pulitzer is the latest designer to collaborate with Target

The collection will be available on April 19

Pulitzer died in 2013, but her preppy clothing line continues

CNN  — 

Palm Beach is just an aisle away.

Retail giant Target announced Tuesday its latest designer partnership, with Lilly Pulitzer – sorority-girl favorite and the queen of bold American resortwear.

The 250-piece collection, which launches April 19, will feature apparel, accessories and shoes for women and girls, as well as home decor in 15 exclusive prints.

“This spring, we wanted to offer our guests a collection that embraced color, print and pattern in a bold, fresh way,” Stacia Andersen, Target’s senior vice president of apparel and accessories, said in a release.

“As we started to think about the perfect partner to collaborate with, Lilly Pulitzer was the clear choice given the brand’s inspiring heritage, authority with print and pattern and resort-chic aesthetic.”

Pulitzer herself died in 2013 at the age of 81, but the brand lives on. Her sleeveless, collarless shift dresses became a signature of the Palm Beach, Florida, party set after she starting selling them from a juice stand in 1959. Lilly shifts for adults currently retail from about $188 to upwards of $288.

Because of her socialite roots (her designs were a favorite of former schoolmate Jacqueline Kennedy), many Lilly lovers on social media weren’t seeing the bright side of the design partnership.

Target contends that the everyman appeal is the crux of such collaborations: to offer upscale labels at a more modest price point. The big box store has collaborated on capsule collections with design powerhouses like Phillip Lim, Zac Posen, Prabal Gurung, Jason Wu and Joseph Altuzarra.

In 2011, Missoni for Target famously caused the retailer’s website to crash several times and led to an uptick in utter fashionista hysteria for online marketplace eBay.

“The Lilly Pulitzer for Target collection marks a new chapter for our brand, and we’re excited to give Lilly fans everywhere, including those who have loved the brand for years and those who will get to know it for the first time through this collaboration, a chance to experience this incredibly chic lifestyle collection,” said Jane Schoenborn, Lilly Pulitzer’s vice president of creative communications.