Liz Claiborne, the founder of one of the most successful women’s apparel manufacturing companies, has died at age 78. Liz Claiborne, Inc. was founded January 19, 1976 with approximately $250,000. Sales for the first year were over $2 million. In 1981, sales were over $117 million. Claiborne’s designs for modern working women were good quality and reasonably priced which made them appeal to the masses. She was born on March 31, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium. Claiborne was the only child of American parents, Omer V. Claiborne, a banker for the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, and Louise Fenner Claiborne. Her father taught her to appreciate art and her mother taught her to sew. Claiborne spent her early years in Belgium and learned to speak French before English. In 1939 the family left Belgium for their home in New Orleans, Louisiana. Claiborne’s father did not consider formal education important. Before she could graduate from high school, her father sent her to study art in Belgium and France. Although her parents expected her to become an artist, Claiborne wanted to pursue a career as a clothing designer.

Source: Fox News