Penguin is back on cool customers: Perry Ellis International is cashing in on the retro trend with the revival of Original Penguin. The brand just opened its own store on South Beach.

Publication: The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 The Miami Herald

Byline: Elaine Walker, The Miami Herald

Dec. 16--It's the brand Bob Hope, Richard Nixon and your grandfather wore. Only these days, you're more likely to find the Original Penguin on the likes of Brad Pitt, Jake Gyllenhaal, Courteney Cox and the cast of the hit television show The OC. The Penguin, whose roots date to 1955, has come back to life thanks to Perry Ellis International, the Miami apparel company that has built an $850 million business in part by reviving such moribund brands. The transformation of Penguin from stuffy golf shirt to "it" brand began with the vision of one man, now Original Penguin's President Chris Kolbe. With fond memories of relatives wearing the shirts back in the 1970s, he saw potential to cash in on the retro trend that's become all the rage. "Penguin has authenticity. Young people today are all about authenticity," said George Feldenkreis, Perry Ellis' chairman and...

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