Liz Claiborne Fashion History

Liz Claiborne was an inspirational woman and designer. She eventually founded a clothing company that still bears her name and had an important impact on the fashion industry.

A Brief History

Liz Claiborne was born in 1929 in Brussels to American parents. She did not finish high school, and while traveling in the United States with her family at age 19, she decided to strike off on her own. She won a design contest in Harper's Bazaar Magazine and then began working for Tina Lesser as a sketcher and model. Over the next 20 years, she worked for various companies such as Ben Reig, Juniorite, Dan Keller, Rhea Manufacturing and Jonathan Logan, where she worked for 16 years as the designer of the Youth Guild Division. In 1976, she went on to found her own clothing company, Liz Claiborne Inc.

Clothes for Working Women

In the 1970s, women were entering the professional workforce in ever-increasing numbers and the fashion industry was not meeting their needs. As a working woman herself, Claiborne understood the desire for functional, attractive professional clothes made for women that were affordable but not of inferior quality. Rather than create women's suits modified from men's designs, Claiborne designed a line of feminine, stylish separates and office-friendly sportswear. Therefore, in addition to being more affordable and easy to care for, her range of clothes were also designed to work together so that a few pieces could make up a multitude of different looks.

A Woman in a Man's World

The fashion industry in the late-1970s was by and large a man's world, and opening her own company made her a pioneer in the industry. By 1986, sales at Liz Claiborne Inc., reached $5.6 million, and the company made the list of Fortune 500's largest industrial companies in the United States. That made Liz Claiborne Inc., the largest women's apparel company in the United States, and the first such company led by a woman to make the list. She subsequently expanded the company, offering shoes, accessories, perfumes and men's wear.

Changing Department Store Layouts

Liz Claiborne has also been given credit for encouraging department stores to group clothes together in one area to make shopping easier. Traditionally in stores, shirts, pants, skirts and the rest were each in their own departments, thus making the mix-and-match process difficult for the shopper. Claiborne is credited with helping pave the way for the more efficient modern layout now used in department stores across the world.

Legacy

Liz Claiborne retired from the fashion industry in 1989, and until her death in New York in 2007, she devoted the rest of her life to her charitable foundation for environmental conservation. The company that bears her name has grown to include Dana Buchman, Juicy Couture, Ellen Tracy and Lucky Brand Jeans. The fashion industry has grown through her influence, as it continues to expand on the basic ideas of attractive, affordable and comfortable clothing for professional women.