Liz Claiborne Dead at 78

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apparel designer Liz Claiborne, who started the namesake U.S. company Liz Claiborne Inc., has died, a company spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday.

Claiborne, 78, was ailing from cancer and died at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday, her assistant said.

Claiborne founded the company in 1976 with her husband Art Ortenberg, a textile industry veteran, and two others, and retired in 1989.