perry ellis international, inc. is a leading designer, distributor and licensor of a broad line of high quality men's, women's and children’s apparel, accessories, and fragrances. our collection of dress and casual shirts and tops, suit separates, sweaters, dresses, pants, shorts, jeans wear, outerwear, swimwear, golf apparel and activewear is available throughout all major levels of retail distribution. through our wholly owned subsidiaries, we own a portfolio of nationally and internationally recognized brands including perry ellis？, perry ellis america？, perry ellis portfolio？, jantzen？, laundry by shelli segal？, c&c california？, cubavera？, munsingwear？, savane？, farah？, original penguin？ by munsingwear？, grand slam？, natural issue？, pro player？, the havanera co.？, axis？, axist？, manhattan？, john henry？, tricots st. raphael？, mondo di marco？, redsand？, gotcha？, and mcd？. we enhance our roster of brands by licensing trademarks from third parties including nike？ and jag？ for swimwear, pierre cardin(r) for sportswear, and callaway？ and pga tour？ for golf apparel.
ur apparel is distributed through regional, national and international department stores, national and regional chain stores, mass merchants, green grass (i.e., golf related) and other specialty stores, and corporate wear distributors throughout the united states, puerto rico, canada and the united kingdom. macy’s, dillard’s, belk, nordstrom, saks fifth avenue, kohl's, wal-mart and j.c. penney are only a few of our varied and esteemed retail partners. we also engage in direct-to-consumer business via company-owned retail stores and e-commerce websites.
additionally, we license our proprietary brands to third parties for the manufacturing and marketing of various products in categories or territories in which we have no direct business operations, including men’s and women’s footwear, fragrances, underwear, formalwear, loungewear, eyewear, watches, home fashion and apparel in over 50 countries. as well as generating supplemental sources of revenue, these licensing arrangements expand collective brand awareness.
through our "family of brands" marketing approach, we develop and enhance a distinct brand, style and pricing strategy for a range of product categories within each distribution channel to resonate with targeted consumer groups, including niche markets that are often overlooked by our competitors. we also produce goods sold under the private label program of various retail partners. by strategically marketing brands to a wide range of consumer segments, our company successfully reaches members of multiple demographic and psychographic groups.
we contract the manufacture of our products through a network of approximately 130 independent suppliers around the globe that meet our rigorous quality and compliance standards. with 8 sourcing offices and quality control centers to oversee all aspects of production and 45 years spent building our infrastructure, personal relationships and supplier connections, we maximize value by delivering the finest product at the best cost.
at perry ellis international, we believe our competitive strengths, buoyed by the expertise of our family of talented industry professionals, position us to capitalize on several trends that have affected the apparel sector in recent years. these trends include the consolidation of the department and chain store sectors into a smaller number of stronger retailers which now represent some of our most important customers; the increased reliance of retailers on qualified partners with sourcing expertise and advanced systems and technology; and the continued importance of strong brands as a source of product differentiation. aided by these market conditions and backed by a proven eye for opportunity, we look forward to delivering continued growth through the creation of fashion that resonates uniquely with the lifestyles of consumers worldwide.
