Fashion designer Liz Claiborne was born in Brussels to American parents in 1929. Born Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne, she is descended from a prominent Louisiana, USA, family, which includes the state’s first governor. Educated at St. Timothy’s School for Girls, a boarding school in Maryland, USA, Liz found that formal education was not for her, so she didn’t finish. Instead, she traveled to Europe to study art at the Fine Arts School and Painter’s Studio in Belgium and the Nice Academy in France.

In 1949, Liz entered and won the Jacques Heim National Design Contest sponsored by Harper’s Bazaar magazine. With the win in her pocket, she moved from Europe to New York City where she worked in the Garment District as a sketch artist and model for pioneering sportswear designer Tina Leser. She went on to work as a design assistant for Omar Kiam and as a designer for Youth Guild, a division of Jonathan Logan.

In 1976, Liz struck out on her own. Women in the U.S. were entering the workforce en masse, and Liz was determined to make clothes for working women. With textile executive Arthur Ortenberg, Leonard Boxer, and Jerome Chazen, she launched Liz Claiborne, Inc. The company found success almost immediately, grossing sales of US$2 million in its first year and US$28 million in 1978. Having spent nearly two decades in the design industry observing and working, Liz had achieved an education unattainable in a formal school.

Liz Claiborne not only changed the face of the sportswear market, but she changed the physical appearance of traditional department stores. Liz insisted that all items from her label be displayed in their own section with prominent branding. While department stores traditionally displayed clothing by style and category, this was the first time shoppers could shop for every item by a single designer in one spot outside of a boutique, an arrangement now typical of name brands in department stores today. Liz Claiborne Accessories launched in 1980, and Liz Claiborne, Inc. went public in 1981, hitting the Fortune 500 list in 1986 with US$1.2 billion in sales. This made Liz Claiborne, Inc., the first company founded by a woman to make the list, and Liz became the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. In 1985, Liz was honored with the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s designer of the year award and was inducted into the Global Business Hall of Fame in 1990.

Described as strong-willed with an acute sense for business, Liz was one of the first designers to recognize the need for affordable, professional clothes for women. A no-nonsense champion of equality in the workplace, Liz famously listed all employees on the company directory in alphabetical order so as not to give anyone preference according to hierarchy. Liz stepped down from active management of her company in 1989. Today, the Liz Claiborne label lives on, reaching nearly US$5 billion in annual sales in 2005. Liz Clairborne, Inc. includes Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand Jeans, and Kate Spade brands.