Perry Ellis Brand Names President
Jason Zuckerman had been the president of wholesale at Calvin Klein.
Perry Ellis International has made its first major move since going private at the end of last year.
On Thursday, the company named Jason Zuckerman, former Calvin Klein wholesale president, to be president of its flagship Perry Ellis men's division. In that role, he will oversee sales, planning and merchandising to drive the overall growth of the brand. He will be based at the company's offices in New York and will report to Oscar Feldenkreis, chief executive officer and president of PEI.
He succeeds Melissa Worth who had been president of the Perry Ellis division since 2017. She resigned in December, Feldenkreis said.
“Jason is a well-seasoned veteran with a vast knowledge of the industry,” he said. “We're excited to have him join us and help us grow the brand.”
Zuckerman has a long history in the men's wear industry, having spent the past 14 years with PVH
Corp. He served most recently as president of the wholesale division of Calvin Klein and has also held roles that include senior vice president of sales for Izod Sportswear and
Golf, and executive vice president of strategy and business development for Speedo. During his time at PVH, Zuckerman was responsible for developing strategies that drove sales and revenue gains across all channels of distribution. He started his career at Tommy Hilfiger.
In October, George Feldenkreis, the former chairman of PEI, completed a $437 million deal to buy back the company he founded more than 50 years ago and take it private.
The go-forward plan for the company focuses on continuing to grow the entire business, with an eye toward further expansion in Latin America and Europe, and expand both the product categories and retail footprint of the Perry Ellis Brand.
Oscar Feldenkreis said last year's relaunch of Perry Ellis America, which is intended to capitalize on the Nineties streetwear craze, has been strong out of the gate and the company will continue to expand that line. “We're going into Urban Outfitters with it in July,” he said, adding that the collection has a lot of potential not only domestically, but internationally as well.
Zuckerman exits Calvin Klein at a time of turmoil for the brand. At the end of last year, PVH severed ties with the brand's chief creative officer Raf Simons and said Thursday that it will shutter its Madison Avenue flagship and cut around 100 employees as it moves to rejigger the brand and relaunch its elevated Calvin Klein 205W39NYC collection under a new name and design direction.