Fashion designer Liz Claiborne has died in New York at the age of 78.

According to her personal assistant, Gwen Satterfield, the iconic label owner had been suffering from cancer for a number of years. She passed away at the New York Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday.

Claiborne revolutionised working women's wardrobes in the 1970s and 1980s, by creating stylish, but affordable clothing.

With husband Art Ortenberg and partners Leonard Boxer and Jerome Chazen, she launched her label in 1976 after working for years as a relatively unknown dress designer.

Claiborne and her husband retired from the day-to-day operations in 1989.