Description
Book SynopsisTo have lived a joyful life and to have departed that life a victim of a vicious cancer is, in brief, the story of Liz Claiborne's life. But the story is much more than that. Born in Brussels in 1929, the third and last child of a highborn American banker and his delicate, beautiful wife, she was born privileged and taught that privilege incurs responsibilities. She lived out her early years untouched by life and death during the ominous 1930s, until the ominous became the real and the family fled to America. Inheriting her father's love of paintings and museums and her mother's love of costumes and clothing, Liz early on discovered "the beauty of everyday things," and at the age of twenty won the Grand Award in the Harper's Junior Bazaar Design Contest, which earned her a trip to Paris to work for ten days with famed couturier Jacques Heim. For the next twenty-five years she worked as a designer and sketch artist before starting her own company with her husband Art Ortenberg. Liz Claiborne, Inc. was an immediate success, and was by 1981 a Fortune 500 company with $1.2 billion in sales. In this book Art Ortenberg does not so much celebrate Liz Claiborne the designer and entrepreneur, but rather Liz the woman. "Liz left us more than her work," he concludes, "perhaps more than the consequences of her work; she left us herself. The making of that self, and the good she did for others, is the story I tell."
Trade ReviewTo read this book is to be taken on a personal and extraordinary journey. Liz and Art are an inspiration to all of us. -- Donna Karan
A moving tribute to a lady of immense integrity and courage, whose devotion to her work, the environment, and Montana is surpassed only by her love for her husband. -- Max Baucus, Senior Senator from Montana
This book is a poignant love story and a fight for life. It is written with passion. -- Diane Von Furstenberg
I hope that this loving portrait will inspire others to care as deeply as she did about the natural world that sustains us all. -- Mark Tercek, President and CEO, The Nature Conservancy
Liz Claiborne is a loving tribute to the late fashion designer.... * Harper's Bazaar *
...Ortenberg lets us get to know the woman behind the big glasses. * Helena Independent Record *
...[A]n intimate, honest account, and a must-read for anyone interested in the life of a fashion maverick. * More Magazine *
What a glorious tribute to one of the most iconic women in American fashion. The love, care and respect shown in this book memorialized Liz to the world and a whole new generation of Fashionistas! -- Vera Wang
