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Fashion designer Liz Claiborne died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. Claiborne was a mainstay in the fashion industry and built her empire around women breaking into the workforce in the 70's and 80's- think Melanie Griffith in Working Girl.
Many of us who had working moms remember the Liz Claiborne powersuits (remember the huge shoulder pads?) from the 1980's, but few know that Liz Claiborne Inc having gone public in 1981, was the first female owned company to break into the Fortune 500 by 1985.
And the working woman wasn't just her only angle- Liz Claiborne Inc. is the umbrella company for Dana Buchman, Ellen Tracy and one of Los Angeles's most obnoxiously favorite phenoms, Juicy Couture. We'll forgive her for that one.
Photo by James
