MIAMI, June 15, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perry Ellis International, Inc., (Nasdaq:PERY), today announced that Founder & Executive Chairman, George Feldenkreis, is the winner of a Miami Herald South Florida Visionary Award, conferred upon a select group of leaders who have positively transformed the region.
“Creating a global city takes perseverance, courage, leadership and vision,” the Miami Herald observed in a June 13, 2016 business article noting Feldenkreis’ achievement. “The transformation hasn’t been easy. And it hasn’t happened by accident.”
A fixture of Miami’s business scene since 1961, the year he fled Fidel Castro’s repressive Cuban regime for Miami, Feldenkreis acknowledged being “humbled, as well as thrilled, to be a Miami Herald South Florida Visionary Award recipient.
“The fact that I was nominated by readers, and then had my achievements weighed by an accomplished group of prestigious judges from our community, validates the importance of our company being headquartered in Miami,” Feldenkreis said. “It’s good to know that what we do positively impacts our community.”
Within months of leaving Cuba in 1961, Feldenkreis created Carfel, a Miami company that quickly became a leading supplier of motorcycle parts.
In 1967, Feldenkreis established a successful apparel company, Supreme International, Inc., that was taken public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 1993. Supreme International made a key acquisition in 1999 by purchasing the rights to the Perry Ellis brand, prompting a name change from Supreme International to Perry Ellis International.
Today PEI employs more than 2,600 associates around the world and generates annual revenues of $900 million from globally-recognized apparel brands such as Perry Ellis ®, Original Penguin ® by Munsingwear ®, Ben Hogan ®, Rafaella ® and Laundry by Shelli Segal ®.
A member of the United Way’s Million Dollar Roundtable, along with his wife, Mariita Feldenkreis, in 2015 George Feldenkreis received the Rambam Award from the Rambam Health Care Campus, in Haifa, Israel, in recognition of his business and philanthropic achievements. He also belongs to the University of Miami’s board of trustees, and is a Greater Miami Jewish Federation board member.
George Feldenkreis holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Havana, an honorary Juris Doctorate from Babson College and an honorary Associate of Arts and Letters from Miami Dade College.
Feldenkreis served as Chief Executive Officer of Perry Ellis until April 2016 when his son, Oscar Feldenkreis, was appointed PEI’s President & CEO.
For more information about Perry Ellis International, Inc., and the company’s portfolio of brands, please visit. www.PERY.com.
About Perry Ellis International
Perry Ellis International, Inc. is a leading designer, distributor and licensor of a broad line of high quality men's and women's apparel, accessories and fragrances. The Company's collection of dress and casual shirts, golf sportswear, sweaters, dress pants, casual pants and shorts, jeans wear, active wear, dresses and men's and women's swimwear is available through all major levels of retail distribution. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, owns a portfolio of nationally and internationally recognized brands, including: Perry Ellis®, Original Penguin® by Munsingwear®, Laundry by Shelli Segal®, Rafaella®, Cubavera®, Ben Hogan®, Savane®, Grand Slam®, John Henry®, Manhattan®, Axist®, Jantzen® and Farah®. The Company enhances its roster of brands by licensing trademarks from third parties, including: Nike® and Jag® for swimwear, and Callaway®, PGA TOUR®, and Jack Nicklaus® for golf apparel. Additional information on the Company is available at http://www.pery.com.