Founder

Founder

George Feldenkreis

George Feldenkreis

George Feldenkreis is the Founder of Perry Ellis International and serves as Director of the Board. Born in Havana, Cuba, to Russian immigrants, George moved to Miami in 1961 and founded Supreme International. Supreme International went public in 1993 and became Perry Ellis International (PEI) after acquiring the powerhouse brand in 1999 which he has since built into a multinational corporation with annual revenues of nearly $1 billion.

George has been a member of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation's Board of Directors for more than 40 years, and has organized many fundraising activities involving South Florida's Cuban-Jewish community. He was the Federation's first Hispanic board member, and was honored with the organization's "Friend of Israel Humanitarian Award" in 2016.

George was elected as a Trustee of the University of Miami in 1995 and has endowed the George Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studies at the University. In 2015, the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, bestowed the 'Rambam Award' upon George in recognition of his business and philanthropic achievements.

In 2007, he was recognized as Man of the Year during the American Apparel & Footwear Association's American Image Awards event and also received Yeshiva University's 'A Perfect Fit Award' in 2006, along with the Ernst & Young Florida Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Manufacturing in 1998.

George holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Havana, an honorary Doctor of Laws from Babson College and an honorary Associate of Arts and Letters from Miami Dade Community College. His numerous speaking engagements have included commencements and keynote addresses at Harvard University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Babson College, Yeshiva University and the Miami International University of Art and Design.