Last night, when my husband came home, he said, "Did anything interesting happen in the world today?"

"Liz Claiborne died," I reported.

"Wow," he said, "I didn't realize that Liz Claiborne was actually a person."

I can see how he made that mistake; the Liz Claiborne name has, in many ways, surpassed the woman behind the brand. But with the announcement on Tuesday of Claiborne's death, as a result of complications of a rare form of cancer, came the reminder that the brand that bore her name was the result of Claiborne's decades of hard work and innovation. Claiborne is credited with redefining the way women dress for work. The New York Times notes that Claiborne's company was the first founded by a woman to break into the Fortune 500, which is unsurprising when you consider that Claiborne made her mark by reimagining the way women dressed for the male-dominated corporate world.

As a designer, Ms. Claiborne did not care to be considered a trendsetter. She placed practical concerns over the glamour of the catwalks and the prestige of designer prices. Her arrival as a fashion brand was precipitous, catching the beginning of a great change in American society as women headed to the workplace in large numbers.

She created a new foundation for a modern working woman’s wardrobe, which had begun, she once acknowledged irritably, as the bland re-interpretation for women of a man’s navy blue suit and tie. Blouses that closed with frilly bows did not appeal to Ms. Claiborne. Her creative expressions were made of colorful tailored separates that could be mixed with other pieces to create many outfits.

Across the blogosphere, women are remembering Claiborne specifically as a designer who broadened what they could wear to the office and beyond. Keri Wyatt Kent, at Boomer Babes Rock, writes about her first suit, a pale imitation of a man's suit, and how it was the Liz Claiborne brand that allowed her to "look professional but not overdressed, feminine but not overly sensual, sophisticated but still fun and comfortable."

My working friends and I discovered the answer was Liz Claiborne. She was “affordable” but still a designer, which meant I could only afford a couple of pieces, but they worked well. Her clothes fell in the category of “sportswear” but it was actually perfect for a reporter chasing stories, or a girl chasing her dreams. As a working girl in the late 1980s, I thought her stuff was wonderful. Not stuffy or power suits, but sophisticated and easy. As a woman running my own business in the twenty-first century, I find her life inspiring. Her company was the first founded by a woman to be included in the Fortune 500.

Claiborne's philosophy was simple: she wanted women to have well made, affordable clothes that could be mixed and matched, for more variety and flexibility. This pragmatic approach to clothing cut across her work and sportswear lines, and eventually included a plus-size line, Elisabeth. Cynthia, at Taking Off, mourns Claiborne's passing because "Claiborne was the first fashion designer who got that large women enjoy clothing, fashion, looking good and having style, just like our skinnier sisters. Respecting the numbers fixation I share with so many other women, I have to admit I love that her clothing is generously sized, and most women I know, including myself, can usually wear a size smaller in Liz than we can in other clothing lines."

My whole fashion philosophy--that every woman needs a closet full of interchangeable basics that work for the office and beyond--would be essentially impossible without the innovation of Liz Claiborne. Claiborne changed the way fashion worked for women by actually MAKING fashion work for women. We take this for granted now, which is perhaps the greatest possible testament to her success.

Susan Wagner writes about fashion at Friday Style and about everything else at Friday Playdate. Her first grown-up perfume was made by Liz Claiborne.