Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ), which became Fifth & Pacific Companies Inc. (NYSE: FNP) on May 15, 2012, was a fashion company founded in 1976 in New York City that designed and marketed a wide range of women's and men's apparel, accessories and fragrance products.

History

Founded in 1976 by Liz Claiborne, Art Ortenberg, Leonard Boxer, and Jerome Chazen. It was an immediate success with sales of $2 million in 1976 and $23 million in 1978. In 1980, Nina McLemore founded Liz Claiborne Accessories. Liz Claiborne Inc. went public in 1981 and had made the Fortune 500 in 1986, ten years after it was founded with retail sales of $1.2 billion. It was the first company founded by a woman to be listed in the Fortune 500.

Liz Claiborne was also the first designer to insist that her collection be placed together on the department store floor, instead of in separate clothing categories, which changed the way we shop. Shoppers no longer went from shirt department to pant department to coordinate an outfit. They were able to mix and match pieces from the Liz Claiborne collection to create entire outfits. This revolutionized the way department stores arranged clothing for sale and created the role of fashion merchandising as we know it today. Claiborne died on June 26, 2007, at the age of 78 from complications from cancer.

On May 15, 2012, Liz Claiborne Inc. officially became Fifth & Pacific, Inc. and shifted focus to three brands – Juicy Couture,kate spade, and Lucky Brand Jeans. The new name also marked a transition to a direct-to-consumer retailer after decades primarily serving department stores. The new name also reflected the sale of the Liz Claiborne namesake brand to JC Penney Co. in October 2011, as well as other transactions.

Business Growth and Consolidation

Founder Leonard Boxer retired in 1985, and in 1989, Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg also retired from active management. Jerome Chazen became the company's Chairman in 1989 and held that role until 1996, when Paul Charron became Chairman and C.E.O. and held that position until 2006. During Charron's tenure Liz Claiborne, Inc. acquired 85% of Lucky Brand Jeans in 1999. In 2001, they acquired Mexx and in 2003 they bought another small fashion company, Juicy Couture. The company acquired kate spade in 2006. On October 16, 2006, Liz Claiborne Inc. named William McComb Chief Executive Officer.

On October 8, 2009, JC Penney Co. (based out of Plano, TX), announced through its media relations website (www.jcpenney.net), that it would become the exclusive retailer for the Liz Claiborne brand. All Liz Claiborne merchandise would exit any additional department-store retailer, and the Liz Claiborne New York designed by Isaac Mizrahi would move from department stores to QVC. The Liz&Co. and Concepts by Claiborne brands originally exclusively sold at JC Penney would be phased out, and the Liz Claiborne merchandise would begin appearing in JC Penney stores in August 2010. In October 2011, the company completed the sale of its Dana Buchman brand to Kohl's. In November 2011, the Company announced that it has completed the transaction to sell domestic and international trademark rights of its Liz Claiborne family of brands and domestic trademark rights of its Monet brand to JC Penney.

Brands

The Fifth & Pacific Companies, Inc. portfolio of brands today includes Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Jack Spade, Lucky Brand Jeans, and an 18.75% stake in Mexx, a European and Canadian apparel and accessories retail-based brand. The Adelington Design Group, a private-label jewelry design and development group, also remains. It markets brands through department stores, and serves J. C. Penney, via an exclusive license for Liz Claiborne and Monet jewelry lines, and Kohl's with a license for Dana Buchman jewelry.