Check out the designer free agent market — Big name talent is trading teams for big dollar contracts.

No, it’s not the baseball free agency market. It’s the world of fashion design.
 
Apparel maker Liz Claiborne hired Isaac Mizrahi away from Target Corp on Tuesday, naming him the creative director of the Liz Claiborne brand.
 
The company hopes Mizrahi will revitalize the brand. But the move is a blow to Target, where Mizrahi helped pioneer the concept of designer fashion at mass-market retail chains.
 
Like as the Yankees have been with baseball players, Liz Claiborne has been active in the designer acquisition market. On Monday, it hired designer John Bartlett to revamp the company’s men’s sportswear line for spring 2009.
 
And last year, it named Tim Gunn, host of TV’s “Project Runway,” as its chief creative director. 

Also recently, Gap Inc named New York designer Todd Oldham as the design creative director for its Old Navy chain.
 
You can’t tell the designers without a scorecard.

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Consumer prices see biggest rise in 17 years
 
(Photo: Reuters. Mizrahi on the right.)