Perry Ellis International Inc. executive chairman George Feldenkreis has received the Miami Herald South Florida Visionary Award.
Perry Ellis said the award is given to a select group of leaders who have positively transformed the region. Feldenkreis fled Cuba in 1961 for Miami, and since then he has been a member of the city’s business community.
“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,” Feldenkreis said. “It’s good to know that what we do positively impacts our community.”
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Feldenkreis’ first venture after landing in Cuba was the creation of Carfel, a Miami company that became a leading supplier of motorcycle parts. In 1967, he founded Supreme International Inc., which later was taken public in 1993. In 1999, Supreme acquired the rights to the Perry Ellis brand, which led to the company being renamed. Perry Ellis has grown to a firm that generates annual revenues of $900 million, with a portfolio of brands that include Perry Ellis, Original Penguin by Munsingwear and Laundry by Shelli Segal, among others.
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He served as chief executive officer of Perry Ellis until April 2016, when his son Oscar was named the company’s president and chief executive officer. In 2009, Feldenkreis was named Miami’s top ceo.
Feldenkreis and his wife, Marita, are members of the United Way’s Million Dollar Roundtable. Last year, Feldenkreis received the Rambam Award from the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel. The award was in recognition of his business and philanthropic achievements. He is also a Greater Miami Jewish Federation board member, and belongs to the University of Miami’s board of trustees.
He holds a law degree from the University of Havana, an honorary law degree from Babson College and an honorary Associate of Arts and Letters from Miami Dade College.