Fashion Designer Liz Claiborne

Liz Claiborne Inc., in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500. Liz Claiborne has designed some of the most recognizable designs on the market. From her incredibly gorgeous Liz Claiborne dress designs to her cutting-edge Liz Claiborne denim styles, Liz has successfully adapted her label to suit all types of individual styles of women's clothing and fashion accessories.

Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne (March 31 1929–June 26 2007) was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. She was raised in New Orleans, returning to Europe to study art instead of finishing high school. After 25 years as a New York fashion designer she founded her own firm (1976), which Liz Claiborne had built into a billion-dollar-a-year business, first designing stylish, moderately priced Liz Claiborne sportswear that freed working women from plain, dark suits, then expanding into Liz Claiborne menswear, Liz Claiborne accessories, and Liz Claiborne perfume. Since its establishment in 1976, the popular designer label of Liz Claiborne has grown to include complete collections of men's clothing, women's clothing, and children’s clothing as well as Liz jewelry, Liz cosmetics, Liz handbags, Liz belts, Liz sunglasses and Liz Claiborne bath and body products.

Liz Claiborne tends to use a wide variety of flowered patterns in her designs. Her women’s lines are generally very feminine, featuring beautiful colors, bows and ties, designed in a tasteful, mature manner. The Liz Claiborne men’s collection is classically simple, offering a wide variety of dress pants, dress shirts and men's accessories. In addition to expanding their already popular Liz Claiborne collections, Liz Claiborne has also acquired a number of other highly known brand labels. With over 40 brands, flagships include Liz Claiborne, Mexx, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade and Lucky Brand Jeans. Other brands include Axcess, Bora Bora, C & C California, City Unltd, Crazy Horse, Curve, Dana Buchman, Elisabeth, Ellen Tracy, Emma James, Enyce, First Issue, Intuitions, J.H. Collectibles, Kenzie, Kenziegirl, Laundry by Shelli Segal, Mac & Jac, Mambo, Marvella, Monet, Monet 2, Narciso Rodriguez, Prana, Realities, Sigrid Olsen, Soul, Spark, Stamp 10, Tapemeasure, Tint, Trifari, Villager, and Yzza. Liz Claiborne listed all of her employees in the directory in alphabetical order to circumvent what she perceived as male hierarchies. She controlled meetings by ringing a glass bell and became famous for her love of red, "Liz Red.". She would sometimes pose as a saleswoman to see what average women thought of her clothes.

World famous sportswear designer, Liz Claiborne died on Tuesday June 26, 2007 at the age of 78. She died after a several year struggle with abdominal cancer. In February 2007, Liz Claiborne Inc. named Tim Gunn, formerly Chair of Fashion Design at Parsons The New School for Design, Chief Creative Officer.

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