Liz Claiborne Dead at 78

Designer Liz Claiborne, whose styles aimed at career women revolutionized everyday fashion sense in America and brought feminine new looks to the workplace, is dead at 78. She was the first woman founder of a Fortune 500 company. Claiborne died Tuesday in New York, after a lengthy battle with bone cancer.

Claiborne's career began when she won a trip to Paris in a fashion design contest. She launched her brand in 1976, at a time when large numbers of women were entering the workforce. Her colorful and stylish separates are credited with launching the women's sportswear category and changing the way department stores market clothing to working women. (More Liz Claiborne stories.)