Lily Claire Boutique
"I don't design clothes. I design dreams." —Ralph Lauren
Photo: Becky Morris
Photo: Becky Morris
Photo: Becky Morris
I love fashion and everything it offers. I'm passionate about shopping, finding something I look good in that makes me feel confident, and then putting outfits together. My mother, Becky Morris, is the reason for this passion because she has it herself.
Becky worked at Saks Fifth Avenue in various positions, most notably as Fashion and Marketing Director in Dallas. She produced charity fashion shows and worked with many designers and celebrities to produce multiple events, including a fashion show for England's Prince Edward. She served as the media and television spokesperson for Saks throughout the metroplex and could travel to other Saks stores throughout the country for store openings and events.
As a fashion stylist, she has worked with hundreds of clients, providing styling guidance, wardrobe consulting, personal shopping, and closet cleanouts. She is a superwoman because she did all that while also having two kids, and In the summer of 2020, Lily Claire was born. No, she wasn't a baby; well, she was. She started as a tiny idea and blossomed into a full-grown retail store.
Lily Claire was 20+ years in the making. My mom and I have always wanted to open a boutique where we could combine our love for fashion, and what better time to pull the trigger than during a pandemic? Like seriously, who opens a business during a pandemic? Even though it sounds wild, 2020, being a COVID year, was a blessing for this endeavor as retail space was available to rent. The fall season at the Dallas Apparel Market was not on fire, and brands were easy to work with.
On October 29, 2020, we opened the doors to Lily Claire, and the rest was history, with a considerable learning curve attached. Loving fashion, selling fashion, and operating a business are three different things. So, we had to teach ourselves about buying, marketing, and social media.
That has been the most critical part of growing our business. We developed our brand as a mother-daughter aesthetic and created a social media presence to support that. Instagram is our primary channel, but Facebook and TikTok are close behind. We also quickly realized that we needed a presence online and created a store website through Shopify to make all our merchandise available online. It has been interesting to see how, finally, after three years, our online store is getting traction with daily website sales.
We have also found it very important to participate in community events like charity fashion shows, pop-up markets, etc. These have been instrumental in growing our business by introducing us to new clients and reminding existing clients that we are still here. We have become selective and have figured out which ones best suit us. It's also an excellent way to get involved in our town and get our name out in the community.
Through trial and error, hard work, and a little luck, Lily Claire is still around and thriving and ready to see what the future holds.
