ANALYSIS: Liz Claiborne raises the bar on brands

Liz Claiborne has spent the best part of the last two decades buying small, niche-oriented brands. But this week the company ushered in a new era by announcing plans to focus on smaller, more powerful labels and develop its own retail businesses. Whatever the outcome of its change of direction, Arnold Karr believes the standards for a “lifestyle brand” have now been permanently raised.