Water Lili clothing boutique earns Best of 2022 accolades

Local boutique Water Lili was named Sussex County’s Best Clothing Store for Women and Best Boutique Store in the Shopping and Services category of Coastal Style magazine’s Best of 2022 competition. This year marks Water Lili’s first nominations and first wins in the competition.

Coastal Style, a lifestyle magazine serving the Eastern Shore, hosts its competition annually to honor local businesses. Nominees, finalists and winners are selected by readers through an online poll, where members of the public can cast their votes.

Lili Oller, Water Lili owner and founder, said, “It was a magnanimous surprise when we were first nominated and we asked everybody to vote. I’ve never won anything from this magazine before, so when we found out we won it was euphoria!”

Water Lili’s first location opened its doors along the Bethany Beach boardwalk back in 2016, and its second location in Ocean View launched in spring 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic limited in-person shopping.

Oller said she is especially proud of earning the title Best Clothing Store For Women because her small business’ mission is to encourage women to break boundaries in their look, express their authentic selves through fashion, and renew their confidence by embracing their own personal style. She attributes the win to her clientele and the community of women who support Water Lili on a daily basis. “The amount of people that voted, supported us and shared it on their pages on social media was mind blowing. It is a community that supports us and, in return, I appreciate each and every one of them because a lot of them have become friends and family,” said Oller. “It’s something that you just don’t see in the big box stores. It’s very personal.”

With a workforce comprising a close-knit community of local women who were recruited from Water Lili’s loyal base of customers, Water Lili has established a unique presence in the Bethany Beach and Ocean View communities.

The company’s social media platforms prefer to feature real women – often customers or women of all ages who live in region – as their models. Its livestreaming events on Facebook feature Bethany Beach businesses and local sites, affiliating the Water Lili brand with the Bethany Beach community.

When she was growing up in the tropical paradise of Panama, Oller dreamed of one day starting her own business selling women’s fashion in a coastal town. She previously owned and operated the successful chain of clothing stores known as Tiger Lili. Oller handpicks merchandise for her store that embodies her own personal journey to express her authentic self through fashion. She’s obsessed with curating beautiful things, loves bold colors and credits her unapologetic flair to her Latina heritage. She’s a mother to four children and her bulldog Gidget, the Water Lili mascot.

Water Lili boutiques are located at 98 Garfield Parkway, Unit 101, Bethany Beach, and 111 Atlantic Ave., Unit 4, Ocean View.