Liz Claiborne was one of the last living legends in American fashion who got a great reputation the old-fashioned way -- she earned it.

She was a rare fashion pioneer who influenced the way America dressed before the era of celebrity clients who vault many of today's up-and-coming designers into instant fame just a year or two out of design school.

"She was the working woman's best friend," a female co-worker lamented upon hearing of her death Tuesday at age 78.

Ms. Claiborne became a household name by both perceiving American women's desire for casual, sporty clothes and then responding to it with reasonably stylish, comfortable, affordable options.

Before her, American women's daywear was characterized by dresses, dresses and more dresses. She did those beautifully, but her greater contributions were easy suits, tailored trousers -- many women still were leery of wearing pants to work -- and separates that allowed women to look polished but in a more relaxed way.

By the time Ms. Claiborne retired from active involvement in 1990 from the company she started in 1976, she was dressing plus-size women and men while offering fragrances, footwear, jewelry, other fashion accessories and home items.

Today, the business that she started and that still bears her name is a global conglomerate that controls such famous brands as Kate Spade, Sigrid Olsen, Lucky Brand and Juicy Couture.

Yet with fame can come scandal and the fashion industry can be exceptionally vicious.

Ms. Claiborne was not exempt from attack. She was accused of describing herself as a Satanist during a television interview, but the report was fiction.

Shortly after that, a story began circulating in 1991 that she had appeared on Oprah Winfrey's talk show and declared that she didn't design clothes to fit black women because their hips were too big. Another variation was that she said she didn't want or need money spent by black consumers.

Influential black filmmaker and social commentator Spike Lee fueled the rumor in 1992 by repeating it in an Esquire magazine interview and urging a boycott of the company.

The truth was, Ms. Claiborne, who had not been associated with the company since 1990, had never been on the program. Ms. Winfrey repeatedly denied the story, and no one could find that Ms. Claiborne had ever made such a remark anywhere.

One can only hope that her immense contribution to American fashion will be the legacy that endures.