Nick Sullivan has spent his career extolling the virtues of the men’s fashion industry. Now the industry is giving back to him. In honor of his 20th anniversary with Esquire magazine, the Council of Fashion Designers of America is creating the Nick Sullivan and CFDA Menswear Design Scholarship.
The idea to honor the journalist was hatched by Todd Snyder, who wanted to do something to commemorate the occasion.
“I heard Nick was coming up on an anniversary and wanted to celebrate his work,” Snyder said. He didn’t want to have just another dinner or cocktail party and started brainstorming with Steven Kolb of the CFDA. “Steven brought it home,” Snyder said. “He said we could create a scholarship honoring him.”
“Nick is such a legend,” Snyder added. “He’s been so instrumental in my career and has always been an incredible supporter. He’s been to all my shows and just wants to know what I’m doing. And he’s very accessible, attending everything from big runway shows to small presentations. When I was a nobody at J.Crew, he always came to my presentations with words of encouragement.”
Snyder also credited Sullivan with being instrumental in being invited to be a featured designer last season at the Pitti Uomo show in Florence. “I will forever remember him for that.”
Kolb said that when Snyder had the idea to celebrate Sullivan, he immediately thought of a scholarship, something the CFDA has been doing for 25 years. “A party is great, but we had the opportunity to do something more lasting,” Kolb said.
He admitted that womenswear generally gets most of the spotlight within the fashion community, but since Snyder is a men’s designer and Sullivan is the creative director of Esquire, it gave the organization a chance to support a menswear student.
Kolb said the size of the scholarship will be determined by the money raised by the industry to fund it. Eligible juniors enrolled in a fashion design program at an American college or university and who demonstrate exceptional talent and creativity in menswear are eligible for the scholarship, which will provide financial support, a platform to showcase their work, and mentorship from industry leaders.
Kolb said students at the country’s top 20 or so fashion schools such as Parsons, Pratt, SCAD, Otis and others will be eligible along with students attending any school with an arts program. “In recent years, we’ve opened the pipeline to schools other than fashion schools.”
He noted that in addition, in the last few years, 75 percent of students receiving CFDA’s scholarships have come from diverse backgrounds.
Snyder said he is hoping to raise between $20,000 to $25,000 so more than one student can receive a scholarship. Kolb said that depending upon how much is raised, the scholarship could become an ongoing initiative.
Sullivan, who has been the creative director of Esquire magazine since 2019, said the thought of a scholarship in his name was “humbling,” and he is “immensely honored.” But he’s also pleased that the scholars will be menswear students. “In men’s, we have to grab every opportunity we can to inspire young designers,” he said.
Sullivan started his journalism career in his home city of London, working for British Esquire, Arena and GQ before moving to New York to become fashion director of Esquire in 2004, a role he kept until being named creative director in 2019. Sullivan also helped create Esquire’s Big Black Book.
“Each of the magazines I worked for gave me a unique perspective of fashion,” Sullivan said, adding that the media landscape today is “almost unrecognizable” from when he started his career.
In addition to styling and writing, his job now involves creating videos, doing voiceovers, and potentially starting a podcast. “While we continue to believe strongly in print, we also now have to think about how it’s going to look on video too,” he said.
“But we’re in fashion, so everything should be evolving. Style doesn’t work if it stays the same, and the same for media. But it’s exciting and keeps you on your toes.”
So what’s next for Sullivan now that he’s got 20 years under his belt? “Twenty-one,” he said with a laugh.
Sullivan will be toasted at an event hosted by Snyder and the CFDA on June 3 at a restaurant in SoHo.
