Believe it or not, Target's Lilly Pulitzer insanity went exactly as planned

Buzz was what they wanted, and buzz (plus some low-key mass hysteria) was what they got.

The launch of Target’s limited-run Lilly Pulitzer collection of clothing and home goods got off to a rocky start Sunday. The retailer’s website crashed not long after the 250-item-strong designer partnership began rolling out, some time between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m., which meant that the only place eager shoppers could snag their coveted green-and-pink-print swag was at an actual, brick-and-mortar store.

And then the lines formed.

Oh, how they formed.

By the looks of the #LillyforTarget and #PinkSunday hashtags, Lilly Pulitzer Nation wiped out everything in stock, leaving neither shift dress nor palazzo pant in their wake.

https://twitter.com/carlyhouuck/status/589806056894664704

A press rep for Target confirmed over the phone that the above photos are pretty representative of the launch day as a whole. He said that the stores he’d spoken with had all sold out “in minutes” and that, once functional, Target.com sold out “very, very quickly,” although he declined to share any numbers.

The rep also said that Target’s designer partnerships — which are known for making people go, how you say, NUTS — are “really about buzz.”

“They don’t really move the needle one way or another from a sales perspective,” he said of the collections, which he described as “very, very small.”

In that case, it sounds like Target got exactly what it wanted out of Pink Sunday — unlike the droves of Lilly Pulitzer faithful who will wake up tomorrow knowing that the kimono jacket of their dreams is in another castle.