What's Liz been up to lately? Comes & Goes!

Late last month Liz Claiborne announced the selling off of a number of its brands in its collection. But, they decided to keep Mac & Jac and Kensie labels and will be growing the two labels. Last year, Liz Claiborne had a fire sale to cope with the consolidation of Macy’s and The May Department Stores Co. It shed several well-known brands and cut 800 jobs. C&C California and Laundry By Design were sold to Perry Ellis International. Li & Fung USA acquired Emma James, Intuitions, JH Collectibles and Tapemeasure. Prana, a yoga wear and sportswear brand based in Carlsbad, Calif., was sold back to Prana’s management team. Sigrid Olsen will be closed, and Ellen Tracy is to be sold to a group of investors. Still in Liz’s label stable are Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Lucky Brand Jeans and Mexx. Hmmm. It's obvious to us the direction Liz is taking going forward.

Then, low and behold. Today we read about Kenneth Cole stepping down as the CEO of his company. Remember reading the headlines a few weeks ago scrutinizing Cole's management skills? In order to save his life's ambition, he took the advice of everyone around him and handed over the reins to Jill Granoff, executive vice president of direct brands at Liz Claiborne Inc. At Liz, Granoff oversaw development of Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand Jeans and Kate Spade - the only Liz survivors after last month's sellout at Liz.

Congratulations Jill! Another woman at the helm of an empire! This sounds like a perfect fit, and we can't wait to see what you do at Kenneth Cole. Cole, you're a winner! A very smart fella! We are sure to see just the right changes to make your legacy live on. And, we are really happy to see Kenneth Cole staying on as chairman and chief creative officer of the company.

Source: Apparel News