MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Perry Ellis International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PERY) today announced Denise Miller as President of Rafaella Sportswear effective immediately. Ms. Miller, an experienced fashion executive with an impressive background including positions with the Kellwood Corporation, and most recently with G-III Apparel where she served as President of Calvin Klein suits and suit separates, has joined the Company as part of Perry Ellis International’s strategic move to further strengthen Rafaella’s positioning among the leading women’s sportswear brands today.
Reporting to Vice-Chairman, President, and COO of Perry Ellis International Oscar Feldenkreis, Ms. Miller will be based out of the Company’s New York City office and will be responsible for all aspects of the Rafaella business including sales, design, merchandising and operations.
“We are pleased to welcome Denise to Perry Ellis International and are very excited about the breadth of experience in brand-building and leadership that she brings to the Company,” commented Oscar Feldenkreis. “We would also like to thank Lana Todorovich for her leadership while serving as Interim President of the Rafaella business.” Ms. Todorovich will resume her role as President of Swim, Ladies Activewear and Shapewear.
The Company has also strengthened its design and merchandising functions within Rafaella by installing Veronica Davis who currently serves as EVP of Design for Laundry by Shelli Segal. She will oversee those functions for both businesses. Rafaella will continue to grow within the Perry Ellis International portfolio of brands, delivering great fashionable products and exploring new innovative avenues for marketing and sales, including its ecommerce site, www.rafaellasportswear.com, which successfully launched within the past year.
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, as well as select children's apparel. 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(R), Original Penguin(R) by Munsingwear(R), Jantzen(R), Laundry by Shelli Segal(R), C&C California(R), Rafaella(R), Ben Hogan(R), Grand Slam(R), Savane(R), Axist(R), Manhattan(R), Farah(R), Cubavera(R), the Havanera Co.(R), Centro(R), Solero(R), John Henry(R), Munsingwear(R), Natural Issue(R), Pro Player(R), Axis(R), Tricots St. Raphael(R), Gotcha(R), Girl Star(R), MCD(R), Mondo di Marco(R), Redsand(R), Anchor Blue(R) and Miller's Outpost(R). The Company enhances its roster of brands by licensing trademarks from third parties, including: Nike(R) and Jag(R) for swimwear, and Callaway(R), PGA TOUR(R) and Champions Tour(R) for golf apparel. Additional information on the Company is available at http://www.pery.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
We caution readers that the forward-looking statements (statements which are not historical facts) in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations rather than historical facts and they are indicated by words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "budget," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "guidance," "indicate," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "possibly," "potential," "predict," "probably," "proforma," "project," "seek," "should," "target," or "will" and similar words or phrases or comparable terminology. We have based such forward-looking statements on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include: general economic conditions, a significant decrease in business from or loss of any of our major customers or programs, anticipated and unanticipated trends and conditions in our industry, including the impact of recent or future retail and wholesale consolidation, recent and future economic conditions, including turmoil in the financial and credit markets, the effectiveness of our planned advertising, marketing and promotional campaigns, our ability to contain costs, disruptions in the supply chain, our future capital needs and our ability to obtain financing, our ability to protect our trademarks, our ability to integrate acquired businesses, trademarks, trade names and licenses, our ability to predict consumer preferences and changes in fashion trends and consumer acceptance of both new designs and newly introduced products, the termination or non-renewal of any material license agreements to which we are a party, changes in the costs of raw materials, labor and advertising, our ability to carry out growth strategies including expansion in international and direct to consumer retail markets, the level of consumer spending for apparel and other merchandise, our ability to compete, exposure to foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, possible disruption in commercial activities due to terrorist activity and armed conflict, and other factors set forth in Perry Ellis International's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those risks and uncertainties detailed in Perry Ellis' filings with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are valid only as of the date they were made. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events or otherwise.