Lilly Pulitzer’s fashion director, Janie Schoenborn, comes to Melly at Galleria this weekend for a spring trunk show. We snagged a few minutes with the busy designer to talk about spring trends, wearing bold prints, and why Lilly loves wildlife.

SP: What’s in store for Lilly Pulitzer for Spring 2010?

JS: We just came off the 50th anniversary of Lilly Pulitzer, and we’re calling this year the “Lilly Loves Green” year. With the resort collection, we celebrated the ocean with prints inspired by the sea. For spring we are celebrating endangered species. We’ve got prints with big jungle cats, monarch butterflies, and gators, all of which are endangered. Really, we are just celebrating everything Lilly Pulitzer has always loved—flowers, fruits and vegetables, and animals—but we really wanted to rally around causes that affect our customers and affect us.

SP: Lilly Pulitzer prints are so bold and Minnesotans are shy about color. How do you suggest we wear such bold pieces?

JS: If you are dipping your toes in color, I suggest you take a dark base like denim or leggings and layer on a printed top. If you are really daring, layer on a cashmere sweater in a color picked up from the print. If that is too much color and print, the easiest way to get a bit of the Lilly look is with a scarf. Our resort collection’s printed cashmere silk Murfee scarf is great if you are wanting to add a pop of color to a color-conservative outfit.

SP: You started at Lilly Pulitzer as an accessories designer. So we must ask, what are the big accessory trends for spring?

JS: The scarf is not going away. It is a trend in the fashion world and a trend in our company. They keep getting even longer, and there are so many different types of fabrics and blends now too. Also, we are translating the floral print trend into our accessories with big statement jewelry with floral motifs.

SP: If we just buy one piece of Lilly Pulitzer, what should it be?

JS: The dress is the biggest story for spring and summer. Everyone should definitely have a printed shift dress from our Originals Collection. And no matter what, you need the right sweater to layer over it.

SP: Tell us about the PANDAMONIUM print. It is so fun!

JS: For spring we created one special print, in black and white (which Lilly Pulitzer almost never does), to raise awareness and money for the World Wildlife Organization. The print shows pandas (the symbol of WWF) with “Lilly loves Widlife” in hot pink. 10 percent of the proceeds of this print will go to the WWF.

Meet Janie this Saturday, March 6, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Melly, Galleria, Edina, 952-929-9252