Liz Claiborne

Liz Claiborne Inc. is a fashion company founded in 1976 in New York City that designs and markets a wide range of women's and men's apparel, accessories and fragrance products. In 2006, the company generated sales of nearly $5 billion. The company sells directly to customers throughout the world through 399 specialty retail formats, 625 concessions, 336 outlet and 13 e-commerce sites. Products marketed to men are labeled without the founder's first name, leaving the gender-neutral "Claiborne." The company's brands are available at more than 30,000 different retail locations throughout the world. As of 2006, Liz Claiborne employed more than 17,000 people worldwide and was ranked 440 in the Fortune 500 list.

Issac Mizrahi is the designer of Liz Claiborne New York, the revamped women's Liz Claiborne line, which was released in Spring 2009. Designer John Bartlett is the creative director of Claiborne by John Bartlett, the new men's collection which launched in Spring 2009.

History

Founded in 1976 by Liz Claiborne, Art Ortenberg and Leonard Boxer. It was an immediate success with sales of $2 million in 1976 and $23 million in 1978. Liz Claiborne Inc. went public in 1981 and had made the Fortune 500 in 1986, ten years after it was founded with retail sales of $1.2 billion. It was the first company founded by a woman to be listed in the Fortune 500.

Liz Claiborne was also the first designer to insist that her collection be placed together on the department store sales floor instead of in separate clothing categories which changed the way we shop. Shoppers no longer went from shirt department to pant department to coordinate an outfit. They were able to mix and match pieces from the Liz Claiborne collection to create entire outfits. This revolutionized the way department stores arranged clothing for sale and created the role of fashion merchandising as we know it today.

Founder Leonard Boxer retired in 1985, and in 1989, Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg also retired from active management. Jerome Chazen became the company's Chairman and C.E.O. in 1989 and held that role until 1994. Paul Charron became C.E.O. in 1994 and held that position until 2006. During Charron's tenure Liz Claiborne, Inc. acquired 85% of Lucky Brand Jeans in 1999. In 2001, they acquired Mexx and in 2003 they bought another large fashion company, Juicy Couture.

On October 16, 2006, Liz Claiborne Inc. named William McComb Chief Executive Officer.

Claiborne died on Tuesday June 25, 2007 at the age of 79. She died after a 2 year struggle with cancer.

Brands

The Liz Claiborne Inc. portfolio of brands includes Liz Claiborne New York, Mexx, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade and Lucky Brand Jeans.

Other brands include Axcess, Claiborne, Concepts by Claiborne, Liz & Co, Dana Buchman, Kenzie, Kenziegirl, Mac & Jac, Marvella, Monet, and Trifari.

Liz Claiborne Inc. also holds the license to the DKNY Jeans and DKNY Active brands.