Jane DeFlorio has been appointed to the board of Perry Ellis International Inc., filling a vacancy created by the retirement of Gary Dix.
DeFlorio recently retired as managing director of the retail and consumer group at Deutsche Bank Securities. She will serve on the audit and investment committees of the board and stand for election as a director at the company’s 2016 annual meeting.
“Jane is a respected business leader and a trusted advisor who brings to Perry Ellis extensive experience advising mid- and large-cap retail and fashion clients with respect to value enhancement strategies, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and product and market expansion initiatives,” said Joseph Lacher, lead independent director.
He added that her expertise will be “extremely valuable as Perry Ellis continues to execute on its strategic initiatives to drive revenues and enhance profitability, including our previously announced plans to review and focus the Perry Ellis portfolio with a goal to exit underperforming, low-growth brands and businesses.”
With the addition of DeFlorio and retirement of Dix, the size of the board has been maintained at seven, all but two of whom — George Feldenkreis, chairman and chief executive officer, and Oscar Feldenkreis, president and chief operating officer — are deemed to be independent.
Of the five independent directors, three have joined the board within the past year — DeFlorio, former Macy’s executive David Scheiner and Gilt Groupe co-founder Alexandra Wilson.
Dix, a certified public accountant who’d been managing director of the accounting firm of Mallah Furman & Co. since December 2011, had served on the board’s corporate governance and investment committees.