GEORGE FELDENKREIS RECEIVES MIAMI HERALD SOUTH FLORIDA VISIONARY AWARD

Perry Ellis International, Inc. founder and executive chairman George Feldenkreis has been named the winner of a Miami Herald South Florida Visionary Award.

“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,” said Feldenkreis. “It’s good to know that what we do positively impacts our community.”

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.

Feldenkreis served as chief executive officer of Perry Ellis until April 2016 when his son, Oscar Feldenkreis, was appointed PEI’s president and CEO.