Original Penguin has a new footwear licensee.
According to the brand’s parent company, Perry Ellis International, it has expanded its licensing partnership with ACI International to include men’s and boy’s shoes for its Original Penguin brand. The new styles will launch in the U.S. and Canada for the fall 2024 season.
The new collection will see the launch of Original Penguin performance tennis and pickleball shoes as well as a range of other styles that will feature “classic Penguin designs” across lifestyle needs.
Consumers will be able to pick up the brand’s new shoe styles at key department stores, leading footwear chains, sporting goods stores, and prominent e-commerce platforms across North America next year.
“Our collaboration with ACI International signifies a significant step in expanding the Original Penguin brand with a leader in the footwear category,” Oscar Feldenkreis, president and CEO of Perry Ellis International Inc., said in a statement. “We look forward to growing this classic American brand while offering our customers an exciting range of options.”
“We could not be more excited to be working with the team from Perry Ellis International to maximize the potential of the Original Penguin brand in the footwear category,” Lance Jackson, a representative of ACI International, added.
This expanded deal builds on Perry Ellis’s 16-year relationship with ACI.
The two companies first came together in 2007 in a move that saw ACI take over the design, manufacture and distribution duties for the Perry Ellis and Perry Ellis Portfolio brands as well as for the Original Penguin and Munsingwear labels.
But in 2016, Perry Ellis moved its Original Penguin shoe license to BBC International in a deal that saw the company design, produce and distribute a line of men’s, boys and layette shoes starting in the spring 2017 season.
It is unclear when Original Penguin’s relationship ended with BBC International, but FN has reached out to the company for further clarification and comment.