Liz Claiborne Inc. Announces Licensing Agreements With Lexington Home Brands And Richloom Fabrics Group

Furniture World Magazine

Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE:LIZ) today announced that it has reached agreements in principle with Lexington Home Brands and Richloom Fabrics Group to design and manufacture products for the Liz Claiborne Home Collection. Lexington Home Brands will design and market a line of furniture consisting of approximately 150 pieces, including bedroom, dining room, occasional and accent furniture and upholstery that will feature a selection of fabrics from Richloom. The Liz Claiborne furniture line will launch in April 2004 and will be available in select department and fine furniture stores nationwide. Richloom Fabrics Group will produce a line of decorative fabrics including solid colors, wovens, and prints, to be sold nationally through fabric retailers and decorator books. The collection will launch to the trade in January 2004, with retail availability in July 2004. Commenting on the announcement, Barbara J. Friedman, president of Licensing for Liz Claiborne Inc., said, "Our partnership with industry leaders Lexington and Richloom will enhance our ability to offer consumers a complete line of coordinated Liz Claiborne products for the home. The millions of women who love Liz Claiborne apparel and accessories will now be able to find the same style and attitude reflected in home products ranging from carpeting and flooring to bed, bath and window treatments available at retail this Fall. Liz Claiborne furniture and fabrics will help us achieve our goal of offering our consumer the opportunity to make a complete lifestyle statement.” Bob Stec, chairman and chief executive officer of Lexington Home Brands, said “We are both proud and extremely excited to welcome Liz Claiborne into our brand portfolio. The brand has a tremendously loyal and deep following with female consumers in a wide range of product categories. The brand has been and continues to be a leader in ‘lifestyle merchandising and marketing’. The research that Liz has already done has proven that there is not only an acceptance, but a highly positive anticipation of what this brand will mean in the volume home furnishings arena. We look forward to sharing this information and the aggressive marketing and product plans with our retail partners as we move toward our April 2004 launch.” Jim Richman, president of Richloom Fabrics Group, commented, “Combining Liz Claiborne’s design expertise and vast consumer appeal with Richloom’s dominance in coordinated decorative fabrics makes for a great partnership. We are anticipating great success in this new venture.” Lexington Home Brands is a recognized industry leader in design, marketing and sourcing of the largest brand stable in the home furnishings industry. The LHB stable includes Timberlake, Nautica, Tommy Bahama, Waverly, Palmer Home, Southern Living, Susan Sargent, Henry Link Trading Company and Betsy Cameron. The company is privately owned and manufactures and sources product worldwide. Richloom Fabrics Group is a vertically integrated home furnishings textile company headquartered in New York City. Richloom’s factories, mills and warehouses are located throughout the U.S. and they continue to be the industry leader in servicing the retail, upholstery, jobber and manufacturing trades. Liz Claiborne Inc. designs and markets an extensive range of fashion apparel and accessories for women, men, teens, children and infants. The Company also markets fragrances for women and men. The 30 brands in the Liz Claiborne Inc. portfolio are available at more than 26,000 points of sale worldwide. For more information, visit www.lizclaiborne.com.