History
Perry Ellis, with his parent company The Vera Companies', founded his own fashion house, Perry Ellis International, in 1978. He opened his showroom on New York's Seventh Avenue. As chairman and head designer he started the Perry Ellis Menswear Collection. Perry Ellis won eight Coty Awards between 1979 and 1984 (the last year that they were given) and a Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Award in 1983. He served as President of the CFDA in 1984
Ellis’ colleague, Richard Haines, attributed to him “classic with a twist.” Perry Ellis said he was inspired “to design clothes that are more obtainable, more relaxed, but ultimately more stylish and witty.”
In early 1986, Robert L. McDonald, a former film producer and 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 said of the fashion house's future. McDonald led the company through setbacks and challenges. Recommended to McDonald by the fashion director of Bloomingdale's, 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.
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. The company’s shares rose from $1.625 to $16 in January following the acquisition. 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.
Read more about this topic: Perry Ellis (brand)
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