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, a former CPG Executive, became chairman and CEO and held that position until his retirement in 2006. During Charron's tenure, Liz Claiborne Inc. acquired 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 New York in 2006. Under Paul Charron's leadership, the company sustained its greatest notoriety since the earliest days of Liz Claiborne and her iconic women's pant suits. Engaging in a series of well-timed strategic acquisitions, the portfolio amassed nearly 40 brands and achieved over $5B in global annual revenue, including an unprecedented streak of quarterly positive growth. Upon Charron's retirement in October, 2006, Liz Claiborne Inc. named William McComb, a Johnson & Johnson veteran, as the company's Chief Executive Officer.[8] That appointment was the beginning of a downward trend for the company, exacerbated by the 2008–2009 recession.
On October 8, 2009, JC Penney Co. (based out of Plano, Texas) announced 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 label (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 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. In 2013, Fifth & Pacific narrowed its focus to the Kate Spade brand by selling both Juicy Couture and Lucky Brand Jeans, returning to a mono-brand company.[9]
