Liz Claiborne CEO William McComb has noticed that certain shoppers are getting smarter.  Hear what he had to say at the Reuters Global Retail Summit about the new savvy shopper.

(Reuters photo)

Today I had the chance to sit down with the CEO of Liz Claiborne in our Times Square studios as part of the 2009 Reuters Global Retail Summit. Bill McComb says “the world has changed and it’s not going back to business as usual.” Click here to listen to what McComb described as the “new normal” and what the fashion company is doing to change the way it does business.

Liz Claiborne sees “new normal” from Reuters TV on Vimeo.

Tim Gunn lovers, alert! An apparel line under the name of fashion's favorite is not entirely out of the question. So says chief executive of Liz Claiborne, the apparel giant that now employs Gunn as its chief creative officer.
    
Liz Claiborne Chief Executive William McComb, attending the Reuters Global Retail Summit, was asked whether a Tim Gunn-branded apparel line could ever be in the stars.

"I do, and obviously we would be the ones to do it," responded McComb.
    
The strength of Gunn -- who skyrocketed to fame through television's popular "Project Runway" reality series  -- is his impeccable eye, McComb said.
    
"Tim is not a designer. He does not design. What he would bring to the table is the common sense edit of how to build a wardrobe," said McComb.
    
"He could do the black dress, the white top, the work pants ... it would be not necessarily high faloutin' fashion, but really smart."
    
And so we wait in anticipation.  Read Reuters' Liz Claiborne story here.
    
In the meantime, don't expect a celebrity designer smack-down between Gunn and Liz Claiborne's new creative designer, Isaac Mizrahi.
    
"They're friends, they knew each other from Parsons," said McComb, referring to the prestigious New York design school. "I would characterize it as very warm, very engaging, very friendly."

So......how about a Gunn-Mizrahi line?

(Photo: Reuters)