- Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

Vill Robert J

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 3/16/2012

3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

CLAIBORNE LIZ INC [LIZ]

(Last) (First) (Middle)

C/O LIZ CLAIBORNE, INC., 1441 BROADWAY

4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)

_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
___ X ___ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
Interim CFO /

(Street)

NEW YORK, NY 10018

(City) (State) (Zip)

5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

_ X _ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Common Stock, par value $1 per share	12221	D

*Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g.* , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)**
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security		6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Options	3/4/2005 ⁽¹⁾	3/4/2014 ⁽¹⁾	Common Stock, par value $1 per share	8000	$37.24 ⁽¹⁾	D
Options	12/1/2011 ⁽²⁾	12/1/2015 ⁽²⁾	Common Stock, par value $1 per share	3250	$2.11 ⁽²⁾	D
Options	12/1/2011 ⁽²⁾	3/16/2016 ⁽²⁾	Common Stock, par value $1 per share	3250	$1.77 ⁽²⁾	D
Options	12/1/2011 ⁽²⁾	6/1/2016 ⁽²⁾	Common Stock, par value $1 per share	3250	$4.81 ⁽²⁾	D
Options	12/1/2011 ⁽²⁾	9/1/2016 ⁽²⁾	Common Stock, par value $1 per share	3250	$4.11 ⁽²⁾	D
Options	3/1/2012 ⁽²⁾	3/1/2018 ⁽²⁾	Common Stock, par value $1 per share	10000	$4.97 ⁽²⁾	D
Options	3/1/2013 ⁽²⁾	3/1/2019 ⁽²⁾	Common Stock, par value $1 per share	12500	$11.10 ⁽²⁾	D
Options	9/1/2012 ⁽³⁾	9/2/2018 ⁽³⁾	Common Stock, par value $1 per share	10000	$5.06 ⁽³⁾	D

Explanation of Responses:
( 1)	These options to purchase shares of Issuer's Common Stock granted under the Liz Claiborne 2002 Stock Incentive Plan vests as follows: 1/4 on each of the first and second grant date anniversary, and the remaining 1/2 on the third grant date anniversary; these options expire on the seventh grant date anniversary.
( 2)	These options to purchase shares of Issuer's Common Stock granted under the Liz Claiborne 2005 Stock Incentive Plan vests as follows: 1/4 on each of the first and second grant date anniversary, and the remaining 1/2 on the third grant date anniversary; these options expire on the seventh grant date anniversary.
( 3)	These options to purchase shares of Issuer's Common Stock granted under the Liz Claiborne 2011 Stock Incentive Plan vests as follows: 1/4 of each of the first and second grant date anniversary, and the remaining 1/2 on the third grant date anniversary; these options expire on the seventh grant date anniversary.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Vill Robert J C/O LIZ CLAIBORNE, INC. 1441 BROADWAY NEW YORK, NY 10018			Interim CFO

Signatures
Christopher T. Di Nardo, as Attorney-In-Fact		3/26/2012
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.