Liz Claiborne: Fashion Designer Who Founded Her Namesake Company Dies at

Liz Claiborne was an American fashion designer. Born Elisabeth Claiborne on March 31, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium, to American parents, she grew up in Europe and Louisiana.

In 1976 she founded Liz Claiborne Inc. with her husband, Arthur Ortenberg, and others, creating affordable, wearable clothes for working women. By 1986 the company was the first founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500. She retired in 1989 and later supported conservation and philanthropy.

Claiborne died of pancreatic cancer in New York City on June 26, 2007, at age 78. The company, which grew into a multinational apparel group, bore her name for decades.

Achievements: Founder of Liz Claiborne Inc. (1976), first woman to found a Fortune 500 company.

Birth: March 31, 1929 - Brussels, Belgium.

Profession: Fashion designer.

Interesting Facts: She brought the concept of work clothes for women to the American mass market.