Perry Ellis

This article is about the fashion designer. For the clothing brand, see Perry Ellis (brand). For the multi-brand company, see Perry Ellis International. For the basketball player, see Perry Ellis (basketball).
Perry Ellis
Born (1940-03-03)March 3, 1940
Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
Died May 30, 1986(1986-05-30) (aged 46)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of death AIDS-related complications
Resting place Evergreen Memorial Park[1]
Nationality American
Education College of William and Mary
New York University
Occupation Fashion designer
Children 1
Awards 1979–1984 Coty Awards (eight)
1983 Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Fashion Award
2002 commemorative white bronze plaque
Labels Perry Ellis

Perry Edwin Ellis (March 3, 1940 – May 30, 1986) was an American fashion designer who founded his eponymous sportswear house, in the mid-1970s. Ellis' influence on the fashion industry has been called "a huge turning point",[2] as he introduced new patterns and proportions to a market which was dominated by more traditional men's clothing.

Early life

Ellis was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, on March 3, 1940, the only child of Edwin and Winifred Rountree Ellis. His father owned a coal and oil company, which enabled the family to live a comfortable middle-class life. Perry graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1957. He then studied at the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia, and graduated with a degree in business administration in 1961. In order to avoid the draft, Ellis enlisted in the United States Coast Guard Reserve with service that included six months of active duty with the Coast Guard.[3][4] He graduated from New York University with a master's degree in retailing in 1963.[5]

Career

Ellis started out in department store retailing in the Richmond, Virginia area to gain experience in the fashion industry as a buyer and merchandiser at the department store Miller & Rhoads.[6] While there, he was co-founder of Richmond retail shop A Sunny Day. He later joined the sportswear company John Meyer of Norwich in New York. Eventually, in the mid-1970s, he was approached by his then employer, The Vera Companies, famous for their polyester double-knit pantsuits, to design a fashion collection for them. Soon after that, Ellis presented his first women's sportswear line, called Portfolio, in November 1976. Although he could not sketch, he knew exactly how the industry worked and proved a master of innovative ideas who created 'new classics' that American women longed for at the time.

Ellis, together with The Vera Companies' parent company, founded his own fashion house, Perry Ellis International, in 1978. He opened his showroom on New York's Seventh Avenue. As the company's chairman and head designer he later developed Perry Ellis Menswear Collection – marked by "non-traditional, modern classics". Step by step, he added shoes, accessories, furs and perfume that all bear his name.

Throughout the 1980s the company continued to expand and include various labels such as Perry Ellis Collection and Perry Ellis Portfolio. By 1982, the company had more than 75 staff. In 1984, Perry Ellis America was created in cooperation with Levi Strauss. In 1985, he revived his lesser-priced Portfolio product line. In the early 1980s, wholesale revenues had figured at about $60 million. By 1986 that number had risen to about $260 million.[7]

Highly praised professionally and personally, Ellis believed that "fashion dies when you take it too seriously."[6] Of Perry Ellis' fashion design, Michael Bastian remarked that "no one did it better...He was able to be modern and yet not come off antiseptic," while Steven Kolb, CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, described Ellis' fashion as "my way to step forward in fashion, but to still have a comfort level. It helped define my personality."

Personal life

In 1981, Ellis began a relationship with attorney Laughlin Barker.[8] Later that year, Ellis appointed Barker the President of the licensing division of Perry Ellis International. They remained together until Barker's death in January 1986.[9]

In February 1984, Ellis and his long-time friend television producer and writer Barbara Gallagher conceived a child together via artificial insemination. Their daughter, Tyler Alexandra Gallagher Ellis, was born in November 1984. Ellis bought a home for Gallagher and their daughter in Brentwood, Los Angeles, and would visit frequently. In 2011, Tyler released her first line of handbags using the name Tyler Alexandra.[10]

Illness and death

Further information: HIV/AIDS in the United States

In October 1985, rumors that Ellis had contracted AIDS began to surface when he appeared on the runway at the end of his Fall fashion show. By that time, Ellis had lost a considerable amount of weight and looked much older. Around the same time, Ellis' partner Laughlin Barker was undergoing chemotherapy for Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-related cancer which later metastasized to his lungs. Ellis continued to deny that he was sick, but rumors of his illness persisted after he passed out in the receiving line at a party at the Costume Institute in December 1985.[11] On January 2, 1986, Barker died of lung cancer at the couple's home in Manhattan.[9] After Barker's death, Ellis' health rapidly declined. By May 1986, Ellis had contracted viral encephalitis which caused paralysis on one side of his face. Despite his appearance, he insisted on appearing at his Fall fashion show held in New York City on May 8. At the end of the show, Ellis attempted to walk the runway for his final bow but was so weak, he had to be supported by two assistants. It was his final public appearance. Ellis was hospitalized soon after and slipped into a coma.[12] He died of viral encephalitis on May 30, 1986.[5] A spokesperson for Ellis' company would not comment on whether the designer's death was AIDS-related stating, "Those were Perry's wishes."[13]

Most newspapers omitted the AIDS rumors from Ellis' obituary and simply attributed his death to encephalitis. In August 1986, New York magazine writer Patricia Morrisroe wrote a story about Ellis where she concluded that, "...many people believe Ellis had AIDS, and given the evidence, it seems likely."[14]

Legacy

Though he worked as a designer for less than a decade, over 25 years after his death his work is “still seen as incredibly influential."[2]

In 1999, Miami-based textile company Supreme International purchased the Perry Ellis brand from Salant, a licensee of Perry Ellis that acquired it from Manhattan Industries in 1986. Supreme renamed itself Perry Ellis International and the company became traded on the NASDAQ under PERY. Perry Ellis International also owns and licenses other notable fashion brands, such as Original Penguin by Munsingwear, Cubavera, C&C California, Rafaella, Laundry by Shelli Segal, Ben Hogan, Jantzen, Nike Swim and Callaway, among others.

Moving into the twenty-first century, the Perry Ellis name has continued to expand. Building upon styles set forth by Ellis, the brand has successfully continued to grow, collaborate with other designers, such as Duckie Brown, and hold critical acclaim.

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Perry Ellis at Find a Grave
  2. 1 2 Chang, Bee-Shyuan (April 11, 2012). "Perry Ellis Still Has Something To Say". nytimes.com. p. 1. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Perry Ellis". Famous Fashion Designers. Famous Fashion Designers.org. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Lipke, David (October 16, 2013). "Reconsidering the Perry Ellis Legacy". Fashion Features. Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  5. 1 2 Morris, Bernadine (May 31, 1986). "Perry Ellis, Fashion Designer, Dead – Obituary". The New York Times. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Perry Ellis". Biography.com. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  7. ↑ Morrisroe, Patricia (August 11, 1986). "The Death and Life Of Perry Ellis". New York Magazine (New York Media, LLC) 19 (31): 28. ISSN 0028-7369.
  8. ↑ Morrisroe 1986 p.32
  9. 1 2 Morrisroe 1986 p.36
  10. ↑ Louie, Elaine (April 29, 2011). "Finding the Design in Her DNA". nytimes.com. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  11. ↑ Morrisroe 1986 pp.34-35
  12. ↑ Morrisroe 1986 pp.36, 39
  13. ↑ Singleton, Don (July 3, 1987). "Dilemma In Aids Deaths: To Tell Or Not". philly.com. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  14. ↑ Shaw, David (September 3, 1986). "Journalistic Ethics : AIDS Rumors--Do They Belong in News Stories?". latimes.com. p. 1. Retrieved March 13, 2013.

Further reading

External links

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