Liz Claiborne was born March 31, 1929 in Belgium. Both of her parents were American citizens and in 1939 returned home to New Orleans. As a young girl, Claiborne's father didn't believe in formal education and sent her to Europe to study art. In 1949, Claiborne began studying fashion and won a Jacques Heim design competition sponsored by Harper's Bazaar magazine. Claiborne left Europe and moved to New York City where she worked as a sketch artist. Over the years Claiborne worked in several positions before she launched her own company in 1976. Claiborne saw a need to design more comfortable professional women's clothing. The Liz Claiborne label became a success due to its good quality materials and reasonable pricing.
Within a few years Liz Claiborne expanded her design house to include menswear, perfumes and fashion accessories. Claiborne first launched Liz Claiborne for women in 1986. This perfume contains a blend of bergamont, lily of the valley and jasmine. Following this, Claiborne introduced several other fragrances including Claiborne, Vivid, Curve, Lizsport, Lucky You and Mambo. Claiborne and her husband retired from the day to day business and have become active in various charities. They continue to buy back shares of the company and run the Liz Claiborne and Arthur Oretnburg foundation.