Liz Claiborne
| Liz Claiborne Inc. |
 |
| Type |
Public (NYSE: LIZ) |
| Founded |
 New York City, New York (1976) |
| Headquarters |
New York City, New York, United States |
| Key people |
William L. McComb (CEO)
Trudy F. Sullivan (President)
Andrew C. Warren (CFO)
Michael Scarpa (COO)
Tim Gunn (CCO) |
| Industry |
Fashion |
| Products |
Clothing
Accessories
Perfumes |
| Revenue |
 4.994.32 Billion USD (2006) |
| Net income |
 254.69 Million USD (2006)
(5.10% profit margin) |
| Employees |
17,000 (2006) |
| Website |
LizClaiborneInc.com
LizClaiborne.com |
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. 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.
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Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Brands
- 3 Notes
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History
Founded in 1976 by Liz Claiborne, Art Ortenberg, Leonard Boxer and Jerome Chazen. 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. Founder Leonard Boxer retired in 1985, and in 1989, Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg also retired from active management. Jerry Chazen, the fourth original partner, became the company's Chairman in 1989 and held that role until 2006.
In 1999, Liz Claiborne, Inc. acquired 85% of Lucky Brand Jeans. In 2001, they would aqquire Mexx and in 2003 they would buy another large fashion company, Juicy Couture.
On October 16, 2006, Liz Claiborne Inc. named William McComb, Chief Executive Officer. In February 2007, Liz Claiborne Inc. named Tim Gunn, formerly Chair of Fashion Design at Parsons The New School for Design, Chief Creative Officer.
Claiborne passed away on Tuesday June 26, 2007 at the age of 78. She died after a several year struggle with cancer.
Brands
With over 40 brands, flagships include Liz Claiborne, Lucky Brand Jeans, Mexx, and Juicy Couture.
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, Kate Spade, 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 (fashion designer)
| Liz Claiborne |
|
| Personal Information |
| Name |
Liz Claiborne |
| Nationality |
American |
| Birth date |
March 31, 1929 |
| Birth place |
 Brussels, Belgium |
| Date of death |
June 26, 2007 (aged 78) |
| Place of death |
New York City, New York, USA |
| Working Life |
| Label Name |
Liz Claiborne |
Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne (March 31, 1929 – June 26, 2007) was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Claiborne is best known for founding Liz Claiborne Inc. which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500.
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Contents
- 1 Early life and education
- 2 Fashion caree
- 3 Liz Claiborne Inc.
- 4 Retirement
- 5 Family
- 6 Death
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Early life and education
Claiborne was born in Brussels to American parents. She came from a prominent Louisiana family with an ancestor William C.C. Claiborne having been Governor of Louisiana during the War of 1812.
Her family returned to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1939 at the start of World War II.
She attended St. Timothy's, a boarding school then in Catonsville, Maryland (currently in Stevenson, Maryland). Rather than finishing high school, she went to Europe to study art.
Fashion career
In 1949, she won the Jacques Heim National Design Contest (sponsored by Harper's Bazaar), and then moved to New York City where she worked as a sketch artist at the sportswear house Tina Leser. She worked as a designer for Dan Keller and Youth Group Inc.
Liz Claiborne Inc.
Claiborne, frustrated at the failure of the companies that she worked for to provide clothes for working women, started her own design company, Liz Claiborne Inc., in 1976. 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 made the Fortune 500 in 1986 with retail sales of $1.2 billion. Liz Claiborne retired from active management in 1989. By that stage, she had acquired other companies, notably Kaiser-Roth, which produced Liz Claiborne accessories.
Retirement
In retirement, Claiborne and Ortenberg founded a foundation that distributed millions in funding to environmental causes including funding the television series Nature on PBS television and nature conservancy projects around the world. She had been advised in 1997 that she had a rare form of cancer affecting the lining of the abdomen.
Family
Claiborne had a short lived marriage to Ben Schultz before marrying Art Ortenberg in 1957. She had a son from her first marriage and two stepchildren from her second.
Death
Liz Claiborne died on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at the age of 78, following a long battle with cancer.
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