Liz Claiborne, Inc.'s Family Violence Awareness Campaign
Forges Alliances Between Commerce, Culture And Community

Boston And Miami Groups To Participate As Local Campaign Partners

NEW YORK, NY - (April 23, 1993) - In a move that promises to redefine the relationship between business, culture and the public sector, Liz Claiborne, Inc. is building innovative, collaborative partnerships with the art world, as well as key organizations in targeted communities that are active in confronting the issue of family violence.

Due to focused local interest on this critical issue, Boston and Miami have been selected as the sites where Liz Claiborne, Inc. will implement its 1993 WOMEN'S WORK program. Funded and supported by Liz Claiborne, Inc., WOMEN'S WORK is a community-based arts program designed to pro-actively and creatively impact issues of particular concern to women and their families.

As a means to deliver a powerful, educational message to residents of these cities, Liz Claiborne, Inc. has commissioned contemporary visual artist Barbara Kruger to create a bold, new public service campaign addressing the family violence epidemic. Public unveilings of the outdoor imagery will coincide with National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, October 1993.

In an effort to maximize the momentum of the cause, the local partners in Boston and Miami are being encouraged to capitalize on the Liz Claiborne, Inc. campaign by working with government agencies, women's and community organizations, the educational establishment and the media to develop new projects or to extend existing programs aimed at eliminating family violence.

A New Partnership Between Culture, Community and Commerce

The centerpiece of the WOMEN'S WORK efforts in Boston and Miami will be the artwork created by Barbara Kruger, an American artist of international stature. Ms. Kruger will adapt her distinctive juxtapositions of image and text for an outdoor billboards and transit shelters, educational brochures and posters, and broadcast and print public service announcements. A radio campaign and other message-delivery vehicles are also under development. Each of the components will highlight an existing local family violence crisis hotline number.

Additionally, a collection of WOMEN'S WORK retail items - designed by Ms. Kruger in collaboration with Liz Claiborne, Inc. - will be introduced, with proceeds being donated to local family violence organizations.

In each city, Liz Claiborne, Inc. has partnered with an outdoor media vendor: Ackerly Outdoor in Boston and 3M National Advertising in Miami. They have both generously committed to donating a substantial number of outdoor spaces for the display of the Liz Claiborne, Inc. program.

Partnerships Not Sponsorships

The WOMEN'S WORK program represents a new kind of corporate and community "partnership," in contrast to more traditional turnkey sponsorships of social or art programs. The initiative was created to serve as a model for future affiliations between the public and private sectors and is a reflection of Liz Claiborne, Inc.'s corporate philosophy of listening and directly responding to the needs of its customers.

Launched in 1991, Liz Claiborne, Inc. introduced the initial phase of the WOMEN'S WORK program in San Francisco where a public service campaign was commissioned and $388,500 in funds were raised for family violence agencies in that city.

"Through the ongoing efforts of the WOMEN'S WORK program, we are able to give something back to all the women and their families who have made us what we are today," says Jerome A. Chazen, chairman of Liz Claiborne, Inc. "Family violence is the critical factor contributing to an alarming increase of all violence throughout our society. We are committed to bringing about change on a grassroots level with regard to this major public health crisis."

To curate and administer the WOMEN'S WORK program, Liz Claiborne, Inc. has retained Y CORE, a Chicago-based consulting firm nationally recognized for its innovation in cultural programming, community outreach and resource development.

Liz Claiborne, Inc. is a New York-based designer and marketer of women's apparel and accessories, sportswear/furnishings for men and fragrances. Founded in 1976, Liz Claiborne, Inc. employs approximately 8,000 people worldwide and generated revenues of $2.2 billion in 1992.