Arthur Ortenberg, a founder and vice chairman of Liz Claiborne Inc. whose vision guided the phenomenal growth of the company in the Seventies and Eighties, has died age 87
Behind every great designer, there has always been a brilliant business partner who brings a balance of reality to creativity. Liz Claiborne met her perfect match in Art Ortenberg, a young garment industry executive from Newark, New Jersey, who hired her to design dresses in 1955 (after which both were quickly fired). Twenty years later, they created Liz Claiborne Inc., one of the most well-known fashion companies in the world, whose success enabled their many further adventures together. Liz Claiborne: The Legend, The Woman (Taylor Trade, April 2010) is the first book by Art, an avid reader and former trustee of the Library of Congress. He resided in an apartment overlooking New York's Central Park that he claims to share with Liz. His life was dedicated to their environmental conservation foundation, The Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation, their close friends, and a longing to sit on their special knoll at the Triple 8 Ranch in Canyon Creek, Montana
NEW YORK — Arthur Ortenberg, who helped build a fashion empire with his late wife Liz Claiborne, died on Monday, The New York Times reported today.
He died at the age of 87 from complications of pneumonia, the newspaper said.
Ortenberg was born in Newark on Aug. 13, 1926. His father owned an upholstery shop, while his mom worked as a seamstress, according to the newspaper.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, he went to work for Rhea Manufacturing, where he aimed to increase sales of sportswear, the newspaper said.
While there, he recruited Liz Claiborne — who was then Liz Schultz — to design a clothing line for Rhea, the newspaper reported.
"The moment we met, I knew something important was happening," he wrote in his memoir, according to The New York Times. "We had an affair, or rather, we fell in love."
After divorcing their spouses, they married each other on July 5, 1957. Almost 50 years later, Claiborne died, the newspaper said. She took the Ortenberg last name privately, but kept her Claiborne name publicly.
In 1976, the couple and their partner, Leonard Boxer, started Liz Claiborne with $250,000, the newspaper said.
Claiborne was the chairman and chief designer for the company, while Ortenberg was the company secretary and its chief executive, the newspaper said.
The company made $2.6 million dollars in its first year, and five years later went public. Liz Claiborne became known for producing moderately-priced clothing that towed the line between business and casual, the newspaper said.
It was often Ortenberg's job to make sure the operations of delivering materials and clothing to their proper locations at the right time ran smoothly, the newspaper said.
"It's a wonderful intellectual activity," he told The New York Times in 1986. "The equivalent of three-dimensional chess."
Ortenberg is survived by his sister, Gloria Farber; stepson, Alexander Schultz, and daughter, Nancy Ortenberg, the newspaper said.
He is also survived by his partner, Cathy Horyn, who most recently worked at The New York Times as a fashion critic.
Behind every great designer, there has always been a brilliant business partner who brings a balance of reality to creativity. Liz Claiborne met her perfect match in Art Ortenberg, a young garment industry executive from Newark, New Jersey, who hired her to design dresses in 1955 (after which both were quickly fired). Twenty years later, they created Liz Claiborne Inc., one of the most well-known fashion companies in the world, whose success enabled their many further adventures together. Liz Claiborne: The Legend, The Woman (Taylor Trade, April 2010) is the first book by Art, an avid reader and former trustee of the Library of Congress. He resided in an apartment overlooking New York's Central Park that he claims to share with Liz. His life was dedicated to their environmental conservation foundation, The Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation, their close friends, and a longing to sit on their special knoll at the Triple 8 Ranch in Canyon Creek, Montana
NEW YORK — Arthur Ortenberg, who helped build a fashion empire with his late wife Liz Claiborne, died on Monday, The New York Times reported today.
He died at the age of 87 from complications of pneumonia, the newspaper said.
Ortenberg was born in Newark on Aug. 13, 1926. His father owned an upholstery shop, while his mom worked as a seamstress, according to the newspaper.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, he went to work for Rhea Manufacturing, where he aimed to increase sales of sportswear, the newspaper said.
While there, he recruited Liz Claiborne — who was then Liz Schultz — to design a clothing line for Rhea, the newspaper reported.
"The moment we met, I knew something important was happening," he wrote in his memoir, according to The New York Times. "We had an affair, or rather, we fell in love."
After divorcing their spouses, they married each other on July 5, 1957. Almost 50 years later, Claiborne died, the newspaper said. She took the Ortenberg last name privately, but kept her Claiborne name publicly.
In 1976, the couple and their partner, Leonard Boxer, started Liz Claiborne with $250,000, the newspaper said.
Claiborne was the chairman and chief designer for the company, while Ortenberg was the company secretary and its chief executive, the newspaper said.
The company made $2.6 million dollars in its first year, and five years later went public. Liz Claiborne became known for producing moderately-priced clothing that towed the line between business and casual, the newspaper said.
It was often Ortenberg's job to make sure the operations of delivering materials and clothing to their proper locations at the right time ran smoothly, the newspaper said.
"It's a wonderful intellectual activity," he told The New York Times in 1986. "The equivalent of three-dimensional chess."
Ortenberg is survived by his sister, Gloria Farber; stepson, Alexander Schultz, and daughter, Nancy Ortenberg, the newspaper said.
He is also survived by his partner, Cathy Horyn, who most recently worked at The New York Times as a fashion critic.
Arthur Ortenberg, a founder and vice chairman of Liz Claiborne Inc. whose vision guided the phenomenal growth of the company in the Seventies and Eighties, has died age 87
Behind every great designer, there has always been a brilliant business partner who brings a balance of reality to creativity. Liz Claiborne met her perfect match in Art Ortenberg, a young garment industry executive from Newark, New Jersey, who hired her to design dresses in 1955 (after which both were quickly fired). Twenty years later, they created Liz Claiborne Inc., one of the most well-known fashion companies in the world, whose success enabled their many further adventures together. Liz Claiborne: The Legend, The Woman (Taylor Trade, April 2010) is the first book by Art, an avid reader and former trustee of the Library of Congress. He resided in an apartment overlooking New York's Central Park that he claims to share with Liz. His life was dedicated to their environmental conservation foundation, The Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation, their close friends, and a longing to sit on their special knoll at the Triple 8 Ranch in Canyon Creek, Montana
NEW YORK — Arthur Ortenberg, who helped build a fashion empire with his late wife Liz Claiborne, died on Monday, The New York Times reported today.
He died at the age of 87 from complications of pneumonia, the newspaper said.
Ortenberg was born in Newark on Aug. 13, 1926. His father owned an upholstery shop, while his mom worked as a seamstress, according to the newspaper.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, he went to work for Rhea Manufacturing, where he aimed to increase sales of sportswear, the newspaper said.
While there, he recruited Liz Claiborne — who was then Liz Schultz — to design a clothing line for Rhea, the newspaper reported.
"The moment we met, I knew something important was happening," he wrote in his memoir, according to The New York Times. "We had an affair, or rather, we fell in love."
After divorcing their spouses, they married each other on July 5, 1957. Almost 50 years later, Claiborne died, the newspaper said. She took the Ortenberg last name privately, but kept her Claiborne name publicly.
In 1976, the couple and their partner, Leonard Boxer, started Liz Claiborne with $250,000, the newspaper said.
Claiborne was the chairman and chief designer for the company, while Ortenberg was the company secretary and its chief executive, the newspaper said.
The company made $2.6 million dollars in its first year, and five years later went public. Liz Claiborne became known for producing moderately-priced clothing that towed the line between business and casual, the newspaper said.
It was often Ortenberg's job to make sure the operations of delivering materials and clothing to their proper locations at the right time ran smoothly, the newspaper said.
"It's a wonderful intellectual activity," he told The New York Times in 1986. "The equivalent of three-dimensional chess."
Ortenberg is survived by his sister, Gloria Farber; stepson, Alexander Schultz, and daughter, Nancy Ortenberg, the newspaper said.
He is also survived by his partner, Cathy Horyn, who most recently worked at The New York Times as a fashion critic.
Behind every great designer, there has always been a brilliant business partner who brings a balance of reality to creativity. Liz Claiborne met her perfect match in Art Ortenberg, a young garment industry executive from Newark, New Jersey, who hired her to design dresses in 1955 (after which both were quickly fired). Twenty years later, they created Liz Claiborne Inc., one of the most well-known fashion companies in the world, whose success enabled their many further adventures together. Liz Claiborne: The Legend, The Woman (Taylor Trade, April 2010) is the first book by Art, an avid reader and former trustee of the Library of Congress. He resided in an apartment overlooking New York's Central Park that he claims to share with Liz. His life was dedicated to their environmental conservation foundation, The Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation, their close friends, and a longing to sit on their special knoll at the Triple 8 Ranch in Canyon Creek, Montana
NEW YORK — Arthur Ortenberg, who helped build a fashion empire with his late wife Liz Claiborne, died on Monday, The New York Times reported today.
He died at the age of 87 from complications of pneumonia, the newspaper said.
Ortenberg was born in Newark on Aug. 13, 1926. His father owned an upholstery shop, while his mom worked as a seamstress, according to the newspaper.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, he went to work for Rhea Manufacturing, where he aimed to increase sales of sportswear, the newspaper said.
While there, he recruited Liz Claiborne — who was then Liz Schultz — to design a clothing line for Rhea, the newspaper reported.
"The moment we met, I knew something important was happening," he wrote in his memoir, according to The New York Times. "We had an affair, or rather, we fell in love."
After divorcing their spouses, they married each other on July 5, 1957. Almost 50 years later, Claiborne died, the newspaper said. She took the Ortenberg last name privately, but kept her Claiborne name publicly.
In 1976, the couple and their partner, Leonard Boxer, started Liz Claiborne with $250,000, the newspaper said.
Claiborne was the chairman and chief designer for the company, while Ortenberg was the company secretary and its chief executive, the newspaper said.
The company made $2.6 million dollars in its first year, and five years later went public. Liz Claiborne became known for producing moderately-priced clothing that towed the line between business and casual, the newspaper said.
It was often Ortenberg's job to make sure the operations of delivering materials and clothing to their proper locations at the right time ran smoothly, the newspaper said.
"It's a wonderful intellectual activity," he told The New York Times in 1986. "The equivalent of three-dimensional chess."
Ortenberg is survived by his sister, Gloria Farber; stepson, Alexander Schultz, and daughter, Nancy Ortenberg, the newspaper said.
He is also survived by his partner, Cathy Horyn, who most recently worked at The New York Times as a fashion critic.
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