Perry Ellis

Perry Ellis is an American fashion house founded by the designer of the same name, best known in the world of beauty for a line of fragrances that began in 1985. The label grew out of New York's Seventh Avenue sportswear scene and today sits within a broad apparel-and-accessories portfolio owned by Perry Ellis International, a company based in Doral, Florida [3]. It remains an active brand, marking its fiftieth anniversary in 2026 [4].

Sources give slightly different starting points for the house. Perry Ellis showed his first womenswear collection, called Portfolio, in November 1976, and formally opened his eponymous company in 1978 [1]. Glowpedia records the founding year as 1978, following Wikipedia and WWD; the 2026 fiftieth-anniversary count used by WWD is measured from the 1976 debut collection [4].

⚑ Thinner sourcing. The article relies largely on the brand's own statements (T2–T3). Glowpedia is seeking independent sources.

Perry Edwin Ellis was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1940, and came to fashion by an unusual route [2]. He studied business administration at the College of William and Mary and took a master's in retailing at New York University, then began his career in department-store buying before moving into design. In November 1976 he presented the Portfolio collection for The Vera Companies, and in 1978 he founded his own label with Manhattan Industries, opening a showroom on Seventh Avenue.

Ellis built his reputation on relaxed, witty American sportswear: oversized, unconstructed silhouettes, natural fibres, hand-knit sweaters and layered "slouch" separates. He summed up his outlook by saying he did not make fashion but made clothes, and once remarked that fashion dies when it is taken too seriously. The phrase "classic with a twist," often attached to his work, was coined by the illustrator Richard Haines rather than by Ellis himself [1].

Ellis died in New York in 1986, at the age of 46. His design career had lasted less than a decade, but it left a lasting mark: Marc Jacobs succeeded him as designer in 1988, and the Perry Ellis Award, later renamed the Swarovski Emerging Talent Award, was created in his memory to recognise new designers.

The corporate history behind the name is layered. After Ellis's death, Manhattan Industries was sold to Salant Corporation in 1986. In 1999 the Perry Ellis brand was acquired by Supreme International, a Miami textile firm run by George Feldenkreis, who then renamed the business Perry Ellis International [3]. Feldenkreis had founded Supreme International in 1967 after immigrating to Florida from Cuba, and had taken it public on Nasdaq in 1993. The renamed company later expanded through further deals, including the roughly $80 million purchase of Salant in 2003, and it now holds a stable of apparel labels alongside Perry Ellis, among them Original Penguin, Jantzen, Munsingwear and Cubavera.

The fragrance side of the business changed hands separately. Manufacturing and distribution rights passed from Sanofi Beauté to Parlux Fragrances in late 1994 [5]. In January 2007 Perry Ellis International licensed its fragrance, skincare and cosmetics business to Falic Fashion Group, a subsidiary of Duty Free Americas, in a cash deal reported at about $63 million [7]. Announcing the arrangement, chairman George Feldenkreis said the company had "decided to grant this licence to the Falic Fashion Group" and wanted to place the fragrances in channels that complemented its apparel distribution [7]. Falic Fashion Group has continued to develop and distribute the Perry Ellis fragrances.

The house's identity traces back to its founder's belief in approachable, everyday clothing over formality. Ellis aimed, in his own words, "to design clothes that are more obtainable, more relaxed, but ultimately more stylish and witty." That sensibility, casual American sportswear with an unfussy edge, has remained the reference point for the brand across apparel, accessories and its licensed beauty range. Its fragrances are distributed through a multi-channel model intended to sit alongside the apparel business rather than in a separate luxury tier.

Beauty enters the Perry Ellis story through scent. The first two fragrances, Perry Ellis for Women and Perry Ellis for Men, debuted in 1985 [2]. The most widely recognised line is Perry Ellis 360, whose women's fragrance launched in 1992 and whose men's counterpart, 360 for Men, followed in 1995 [8][9]. These scents anchor the brand's presence in beauty retail, including in the Nordic market, where the fragrances are sold.

Perry Ellis himself was among the most decorated American designers of his era. He earned eight Coty Awards over 1979 to 1984 and several honours from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, including its Designer of the Year award in 1982 [4]. He served as president of the CFDA from 1984 until his death, and in 2002 a commemorative plaque was placed on New York's Seventh Avenue in his memory.

Perry Ellis is an active brand. It is owned by Perry Ellis International and continued to develop under new creative leadership after Michael Miille was appointed creative director in 2024. In 2026 the label marked its fiftieth anniversary and expanded its elevated Signature Collection for the spring season; WWD published a fiftieth-anniversary feature in June 2026 [4]. The fragrance line remains in production under licence to Falic Fashion Group.