headquarters miami fl products women s clothing parent perry ellis international website www.rafaellasportswear.com rafaella or rafaella sportswear is a women s clothing brand owned by the publicly held international clothing company perry ellis international . originally created by rafaella apparel group the brand changed ownership to cerberus capital management before being bought and expanded by perry ellis . history edit the rafaella brand name was established under the company rafaella apparel group inc. in 1982 1 in new york city new york to suit the clothing needs of working women in the united states of america . the rafaella brand became quickly gained popularity among professional women because of the quality the brand offered . additionally rafaella was among the first women s dress clothing lines to offer its pants styles across a wide range of pant fits . rafaella s offering of modern classic and curvy fit types has been mirrored by other clothing companies including levi strauss & co. in pioneering the sales technique of offering the same style in multiple female body types rafaella was able to win market share over its competitors solidifying the company s success toward the end of the 20th century . 2 the brand has been featured in several issues of o the oprah magazine and on the oprah winfrey show 3 4 5 and has been the subject of fashion editorials and reviews for its women s dress pants dress shirts dresses and swim sportswear . 6 7 8 management changes and expansion edit rafaella apparel group was bought by cerberus capital management 9 and was later sold in january 2011 to its current owner perry ellis international for 70 million usd . 10 11 perry ellis international expanded the brand continuing its dresswear line while broadening its focus on dresses and sportswear . 12 under perry ellis the brand s new looks gained positive reviews 13 in july 2012 fashion executive denise miller was instated as the president of rafaella in order to further expand that vision . miller previously worked for kellwood company as well as g iii apparel ltd. where she was the president of calvin klein suits and suit separates . 14 another major management change was subsequently made in 2013 when karol rosa model and co host of sabado gigante 15 was hired as the brand ambassador for rafaella . 16 17 despite the ownership and management changes the company remains headquartered in new york city . references edit company overview of rafaella apparel group inc . bloomberg business week . retrieved 20 september 2013 . rafaella ; about us . rafaella ; about us . retrieved 2013 09 19 . glassman adam . o what a buy the interview kit . o the oprah magazine . harpo inc. glassman adam . your biggest dressing dilemmas solved . o the oprah magazine . harpo inc. retrieved 20 september 2013 . glassman adam . dress 10 pounds slimmer . o the oprah magazine . harpo inc. retrieved 20 september 2013 . malacoff julia . 100 summer dresses under 100 slide 4 . redbook . hearst communication inc. retrieved 20 september 2013 . malacoff julia . date night dresses under 100 slide 93 . redbook . hearst communication inc. retrieved 20 september 2013 . people style watch . eberjay . eberjay . retrieved 20 september 2013 . a passion for fashion cerberus buys rafaella may bid for saks chain . ebsco host . ebsco publishing . retrieved 20 september 2013 . perry ellis international press release . retrieved 20 september 2013 . perry ellis to buy rafaella apparel for 70m . daily business review . alm media properties llc . retrieved 20 september 2013 . nicolette mason . retrieved 20 september 2013 . first look rafaella spring 2012 . the fabulous report . perry ellis international taps denise miller as president of rafaella sportswear . businesswire . karol rosa . univision.com . univision communications inc. starks sierra leone . karol rosa flaunts her curves as new rep for rafaella brand . cosmopolitan . hearst communications inc. retrieved 20 september 2013 . karol rosa official website . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title rafaella & oldid 649984997 categories perry ellis international brandsgarment infustryfashion navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 5 march 2015 at 12 41 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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