Mizrahi Leaves Target for Liz Claiborne

New York City Liz Claiborne Inc. said Tuesday it has hired Isaac Mizrahi as its creative director for its namesake brand in a bid to rejuvenate its foundering and aging label.

In signing on with Liz Claiborne, the designer is also ending his contract with Target Corp. He had created the Isaac Mizrahi for Target collection, which has been a magnet in driving customer traffic to its stores and helped solidify Target’s niche in cheap chic designs since its inception five years ago.

Mizrahi’s first women’s collection for Claiborne, to arrive in stores for spring 2009, will appeal to the same customer but will be updated with bold colors.

In a separate statement, Target said that the Mizrahi collection will continue to be available exclusively in select Target stores and at Target.com through the end of 2008.