Hey ladies, sitting out there, have you ever thought who was instrumental in initiating colored cloths to the work front; I mean colored cloths for women. Previously, women in the professional field were supposed to wear navy blazers and bow-tie blouses, sounds monotonous but it’s true.
Nevertheless, the droning streak was challenged by none other Liz Claiborne, a name, which is still carry forward by some departmental stores. A designer by profession, she founded a billion dollar Fashion Empire by providing women with reasonably priced fashionable career clothes and later the label escalated into a multibillion dollar global empire.
You must be wondering why I’m telling you all this, well, the lady behind all this revolution is no more, she has died at an age of 78. According to her assistant, she was suffering from cancer and expired at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday.
A glimpse at her life:
Claiborne was born in Brussels in 1929. She won a design competition in Harper’s Bazaar magazine as a consequent of which, she kidded off her career and moved to New York.
Prior to the launch of her own company in 1976, she served in various Seventh Avenue sportswear and dressmaking firms, along with her husband, Art Ortenberg, a textile industry veteran, and two others.
A pioneer in fashion industry:
She broke new ground into the fashion arena and stylish sportswears too were peeping at the horizon. Thus swaying the way America dressed previous to the period of celebrity clients who vault many of today’s up-and-coming designers into instant fame within a year or so out of design school.
Betty Newton, who worked for Claiborne from 1985 to 1991 said,
She taught women that it didn’t have to be expensive to be good-looking. Her sense of style and fit were amazing.
Bill McComb, CEO of Liz Claiborne said,
Her commitment to style and design is ever present in our thinking and the way we work. We will remember Liz for her vision, her entrepreneurial spirit and her enduring compassion and generosity.
At the moment, the business that she founded and that still bears her name is a global conglomerate that controls such famous brands as Kate Spade, Sigrid Olsen, Lucky Brand and Juicy Couture.
Indeed, she was the spirit behind revolution that took shape in the arena of fashion some thirty years back.
