Perry Ellis (brand)
Encyclopedia
Perry Ellis is a clothing brand owned by Perry Ellis International
and founded by designer Perry Ellis.
The Vera Companies', founded his own fashion house
, Perry Ellis International, in 1978. He opened his showroom on New York
's fashionable Seventh Avenue
. As the company's chairman and head designer
he later developed Perry Ellis Menswear Collection — widely successful, and marked by "non-traditional, modern classics". Step by step, he added shoes, accessories
, furs and perfume
that all bore his name. For his designs, Perry Ellis won eight Coty Award
s between 1979 and 1984 (the last year that they were given) and a Council of Fashion Designers of America
(CFDA) Award in 1983.
Throughout the 1980s the company continued to expand and include various labels such as Perry Ellis Collection and Perry Ellis Portfolio. By 1982, the company had more than 75 staff. In 1984, Perry Ellis America was created in cooperation with Levi Strauss
. In 1985, he revived his lesser-priced Portfolio line. In the early 1980s, wholesale
revenues had figured at about $60 million. By 1986 that number had risen to about $250 million.
In early 1986, Robert L. McDonald, a former film producer
and close friend of Ellis, succeeded Laughlin Barker, Ellis' domestic partner, who had died in January of that year as president
of Perry Ellis International
. After Ellis' death in May 1986, McDonald announced that under the terms of Ellis' will
he had full control of the company in trust for Ellis' heirs. "Perry wanted us to continue, of course", he then said of the fashion house's future. McDonald successfully guided the company through setbacks and challenges in the years to come. Recommended to McDonald by the fashion director of Bloomingdale's
at that time, the young designer Marc Jacobs
, a Parsons graduate who would start his own label in 1993 and become head designer
of Louis Vuitton
in Paris
in 1997, designed for the house
of Perry Ellis from 1988 to 1993.
Since then, the company has changed hands several times. In 1986, Manhattan Industries, the parent
of The Vera Companies (the owner of Perry Ellis), was sold to Salant, a licensee
of Perry Ellis. From then, Perry Ellis was acquired
by Supreme Inc., a Miami-based textile concern, in 1999. Supreme was then renamed Perry Ellis International
. In 2003, in turn, Perry Ellis International
acquired
Salant. The corporation has since then acquired
various other textile companies, such as Original Penguin
and golf
brand
Ping Collection, among many others. The company, eventually, was transformed to a complete licensing and marketing firm for the Perry Ellis name.
fashion manufacturer, acquired the license
for women's sportswear from Perry Ellis and relaunched the label on the New York
runways. Patrick Robinson, a Parsons graduate and former Giorgio Armani
Le Collezioni and Anne Klein
designer, was appointed Creative Director to produce a moderately priced collection for Public Clothing Company and a higher-priced collection for Perry Ellis International. His Spring 2005 collection was critically acclaimed and still, it was decided that the line be not produced for profitability
reasons. A previous midscale line by Robinson had not sold well. Robinson disappointedly left his post in December 2004 for French fashion house Puig and was made creative director
at Paco Rabanne
in 2005. There is no high-end womenswear line currently being made at Perry Ellis. In 2003, Jerry Kaye became creative director for the high-end Perry Ellis Signature menswear line. The designer
has worked with Perry Ellis for more than ten years. However, the men's Signature line was incorporated into the regular men's collection line with the Spring 2006 offering.
In the Fall of 2006, John Crocco took over the role of Creative Director
. Since that time, Crocco has created 2 successful seasons of Perry Ellis runway Collections. John Crocco has made a huge effort to design the Collection as the late Perry Ellis would have- creating a wearable Collection consisting of "new classics". In the Spring 2007 runway show, John even paid homage
to the designer in the final look through a tee shirt worn on model.
Fashion designers Isaac Mizrahi
, Marc Jacobs
and Tom Ford
were all employees with Perry Ellis: Mizrahi
apprenticed with the company from 1982 to 1984 and was best friends with Mr. Ellis. Jacobs
joined Perry Ellis in 1988, created, among many other items, a Freudian
(underwear) 'slip' imprinted with Freud's face and lost his design job again in 1993 over what came to be known as his 'grunge collection'. Ford
briefly worked as design director for Perry Ellis womenswear under Marc Jacobs
in 1988.
Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International is an international marketer of clothing, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels; focusing mostly on sportswear and casual clothing for niche markets...
and founded by designer Perry Ellis.
History
After finding praise for his previous women's sportswear line, called Portfolio, Perry Ellis, together with his parent companyParent company
A parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company...
The Vera Companies', founded his own fashion house
Fashion House
Fashion House is an American telenovela that aired at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT Monday through Saturday on MyNetworkTV stations. The series premiered on September 5, 2006 and concluded on December 5, 2006...
, Perry Ellis International, in 1978. He opened his showroom on New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's fashionable Seventh Avenue
Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Seventh Avenue, known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park, is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below Central Park and a two-way street north of the park....
. As the company's chairman and head designer
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....
he later developed Perry Ellis Menswear Collection — widely successful, and marked by "non-traditional, modern classics". Step by step, he added shoes, accessories
Fashion accessory
Fashion accessories are decorative items that supplement and complement clothes, such as jewelery, gloves, handbags, hats, belts, scarves, wigs, watches, sunglasses, pins, stockings, bow ties, hand fans, leg warmers, leggings, neckties, suspenders, and tights....
, furs and perfume
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
that all bore his name. For his designs, Perry Ellis won eight Coty Award
Coty Award
The Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards were first announced in January 1942 by the cosmetics and perfume company Coty, Inc. to promote and celebrate American fashion, and encourage design during the Second World War. The first awards were presented in January 1943, with Norman Norell winning...
s between 1979 and 1984 (the last year that they were given) and a Council of Fashion Designers of America
Council of Fashion Designers of America
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. is a not-for-profit trade association of over 350 of America’s foremost fashion and accessory designers. As of 2009, Diane von Fürstenberg is the group's President and Steven Kolb is the Executive Director...
(CFDA) Award in 1983.
Throughout the 1980s the company continued to expand and include various labels such as Perry Ellis Collection and Perry Ellis Portfolio. By 1982, the company had more than 75 staff. In 1984, Perry Ellis America was created in cooperation with Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...
. In 1985, he revived his lesser-priced Portfolio line. In the early 1980s, wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
revenues had figured at about $60 million. By 1986 that number had risen to about $250 million.
In early 1986, Robert L. McDonald, a former film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and close friend of Ellis, succeeded Laughlin Barker, Ellis' domestic partner, who had died in January of that year as president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International is an international marketer of clothing, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels; focusing mostly on sportswear and casual clothing for niche markets...
. After Ellis' death in May 1986, McDonald announced that under the terms of Ellis' will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
he had full control of the company in trust for Ellis' heirs. "Perry wanted us to continue, of course", he then said of the fashion house's future. McDonald successfully guided the company through setbacks and challenges in the years to come. Recommended to McDonald by the fashion director of Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
at that time, the young designer Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, with more than 200 retail stores in 60 countries. He has been the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton since 1997...
, a Parsons graduate who would start his own label in 1993 and become head designer
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....
of Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier – commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV – is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes,...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1997, designed for the house
Fashion House
Fashion House is an American telenovela that aired at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT Monday through Saturday on MyNetworkTV stations. The series premiered on September 5, 2006 and concluded on December 5, 2006...
of Perry Ellis from 1988 to 1993.
Since then, the company has changed hands several times. In 1986, Manhattan Industries, the parent
Parent company
A parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company...
of The Vera Companies (the owner of Perry Ellis), was sold to Salant, a licensee
Licensee
A licensee is someone who has been granted a licence.- Tort law :The term is used in the USA law of torts to describe a person who is on the property of another, despite the fact that the property is not open to the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the licensee to enter...
of Perry Ellis. From then, Perry Ellis was acquired
Takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...
by Supreme Inc., a Miami-based textile concern, in 1999. Supreme was then renamed Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International is an international marketer of clothing, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels; focusing mostly on sportswear and casual clothing for niche markets...
. In 2003, in turn, Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International is an international marketer of clothing, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels; focusing mostly on sportswear and casual clothing for niche markets...
acquired
Takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...
Salant. The corporation has since then acquired
Takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...
various other textile companies, such as Original Penguin
Original Penguin
Original Penguin is an American clothing line. With roots in the 1950s and 60s, the brand specializes in clothing, footwear, and eyewear...
and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
Ping Collection, among many others. The company, eventually, was transformed to a complete licensing and marketing firm for the Perry Ellis name.
Corporate Information
- As of March 1, 2007, Perry Ellis InternationalPerry Ellis InternationalPerry Ellis International is an international marketer of clothing, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels; focusing mostly on sportswear and casual clothing for niche markets...
operates 40 Perry Ellis retail outlet stores located primarily in upscale retail outlet malls across the United States, as well as five Original PenguinOriginal PenguinOriginal Penguin is an American clothing line. With roots in the 1950s and 60s, the brand specializes in clothing, footwear, and eyewear...
retail stores located in upscaleLuxury goodLuxury goods are products and services that are not considered essential and associated with affluence.The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies...
demographic markets. In addition, the Company leverages its design, sourcing and logistics capability by offering a limited number of private label programs to retailers. It licenses its brands through 45 domestic and 94 international license agreements. The Company maintains a portfolio of 27 brands that it either owns or licenses.
- The CEO of Perry Ellis InternationalPerry Ellis InternationalPerry Ellis International is an international marketer of clothing, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels; focusing mostly on sportswear and casual clothing for niche markets...
is George Feldenkreis.
- Perry Ellis InternationalPerry Ellis InternationalPerry Ellis International is an international marketer of clothing, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels; focusing mostly on sportswear and casual clothing for niche markets...
stockStockThe capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
is traded at the NASDAQNASDAQThe NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
(symbol: PERY).
Perry Ellis
- These days, Perry Ellis is the fifth largest men’s designerDesignerA designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
brandBrandThe American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
in the United States. With retail sales of over $1 billion, Perry Ellis clothing for men, women and boys is sold through major retailers and department stores in the US and Canada.
- Hollywood actors Paul RuddPaul RuddPaul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My...
and Jerry O'ConnellJerry O'ConnellJeremiah "Jerry" O'Connell is an American actor, best known for his roles in the TV series Sliders, Andrew Clements in My Secret Identity, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me, Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo Jack, and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan...
have been featured as modelsModel (person)A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
in the advertising campaignAdvertising campaignAn advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
s for the Perry Ellis menswear line.
- Perry Ellis provides the wardrobe for Alex TrebekAlex TrebekGeorge Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself...
on the TV Game Show Jeopardy!Jeopardy!Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
.
Designers
In early 2003, Public Clothing Company, a New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
fashion manufacturer, acquired the license
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
for women's sportswear from Perry Ellis and relaunched the label on the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
runways. Patrick Robinson, a Parsons graduate and former Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with an annual turnover of $1.6 billion and a...
Le Collezioni and Anne Klein
Anne Klein
Anne Klein was an American fashion designer who founded her own women's sportswear and apparel label.-Biography:Anne Klein was born as Hannah Golofski in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York on August 3, 1923...
designer, was appointed Creative Director to produce a moderately priced collection for Public Clothing Company and a higher-priced collection for Perry Ellis International. His Spring 2005 collection was critically acclaimed and still, it was decided that the line be not produced for profitability
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
reasons. A previous midscale line by Robinson had not sold well. Robinson disappointedly left his post in December 2004 for French fashion house Puig and was made creative director
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
at Paco Rabanne
Paco Rabanne
Francisco "Paco" Rabaneda Cuervo, more commonly known as Paco Rabanne is a Franco-Spanish fashion designer. He fled Spain for France with his mother when the Spanish Civil War broke out...
in 2005. There is no high-end womenswear line currently being made at Perry Ellis. In 2003, Jerry Kaye became creative director for the high-end Perry Ellis Signature menswear line. The designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
has worked with Perry Ellis for more than ten years. However, the men's Signature line was incorporated into the regular men's collection line with the Spring 2006 offering.
In the Fall of 2006, John Crocco took over the role of Creative Director
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
. Since that time, Crocco has created 2 successful seasons of Perry Ellis runway Collections. John Crocco has made a huge effort to design the Collection as the late Perry Ellis would have- creating a wearable Collection consisting of "new classics". In the Spring 2007 runway show, John even paid homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to the designer in the final look through a tee shirt worn on model.
Fashion designers Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi is an American TV presenter, fashion designer, and was the creative director of Liz Claiborne. He is best known for his eponymous fashion lines.-Early life:...
, Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, with more than 200 retail stores in 60 countries. He has been the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton since 1997...
and Tom Ford
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man.-Early life :Tom Ford was born August 27, 1961 in...
were all employees with Perry Ellis: Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi is an American TV presenter, fashion designer, and was the creative director of Liz Claiborne. He is best known for his eponymous fashion lines.-Early life:...
apprenticed with the company from 1982 to 1984 and was best friends with Mr. Ellis. Jacobs
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, with more than 200 retail stores in 60 countries. He has been the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton since 1997...
joined Perry Ellis in 1988, created, among many other items, a Freudian
Freudian slip
A Freudian slip, also called parapraxis, is an error in speech, memory, or physical action that is interpreted as occurring due to the interference of some unconscious , subdued, wish, conflict, or train of thought...
(underwear) 'slip' imprinted with Freud's face and lost his design job again in 1993 over what came to be known as his 'grunge collection'. Ford
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man.-Early life :Tom Ford was born August 27, 1961 in...
briefly worked as design director for Perry Ellis womenswear under Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, with more than 200 retail stores in 60 countries. He has been the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton since 1997...
in 1988.
External links
- Perry Ellis - e-commerce site
- Corporate web site of Perry Ellis International
- Picture of Perry Ellis (early 1980s)
- Picture of Perry Ellis' plaque on the Fashion Walk of Fame in New York
- Perry Ellis Signature Collection - Spring 2006
- Behind the scenes of the Menswear SS06 collection
- Perry Ellis womenswear - Spring 2005
- Perry Ellis Collection - Fall 2007
