George Sully is a Canadian fashion designer. He is the creator of the Black Designers of Canada database, co-founder of fashion brands Sully Wong, House of Hayla, and founder of Sully & Son Company.[1][2][3]
George Sully | |
|---|---|
 Sully in 2020 | |
| Born | |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Organization | Black Designers of Canada |
| Labels |
|
| Website | www |
Early life
editSully was born in Ottawa, Ontario, and attended Notre Dame High School.[4]
Career
editSully started his career as an artist and music producer. Later transitioned from music to fashion.[5] He created Limb Apparel which featured streetwear and moved to Toronto in his 20s to pursue a fashion career.[4]
Sully launched Sully Wong, with Henry Wong. The two founders divided the labour with Sully focused on the graphics and marketing of the products.[6] In 2013, Sully Wong premiered a line of desert boot runners with designer Karim Rashid at the Magic Trade Show in Las Vegas.[7] Sully stated that this collaboration exposed their designs to a celebrities and an international audience.[4] One of these designs was inducted into the Bata Shoe Museum's permanent collection.[7] Sully Wong partnered with student mentees at Central Toronto Academy in 2016 to create The Wolf Sneaker as part of the "6ixess" clothing line.[8][9] The Winter Kicks shoe, another piece in the collection that Sully co-designed with students, was inducted into the Bata Shoe Museum in 2019.[10]
In 2018, Sully launched House of Hayla with Hayla Amini featuring monochromatic stiletto shoes inspired by Pantone Colour Institute hues. The heels are vegan and approved by PETA.[1] He is also the maker of the Starfleet uniform boot in Star Trek: Discovery.[1]
In 2020, Sully launched Sully & Son Company a premium travel and accessories brand. His first collaboration was with LG Electronics Canada to create a custom backpack in celebration of their VELVET LG smart phone launch.[11] In 2020, Sully was awarded the Fashion International Group Visionary Award.
In 2021, TD Bank launched its annual TD Thanks campaign, recognizing and rewarding George Sully with personalized thank you gifts in support of his community initiative efforts in creating Black Designers of Canada.[12] Later in the year, George Sully starred in CRAVE Network Documentary style feature called Creative Soles, where he and his colleagues were given the task to create a custom sneaker for television host Tyrone Edwards.[13]
In 2022 George was awarded with honorary degree credentials by George Brown College, an Honorary Bachelor degree in Brand Design.[14]
In 2022, George sully was added to the elevate festival, the country's largest Canadian -led and founded technology and arts festival as a speaker alongside, Venus Williams, Andre DeGrasse and Micheal Romannow.[15] In the same year, George Sully was honoured by the Canadian Art & Fashion Awards (CAFA) with the inaugural Changemaker Award created to honor those who have spearheaded progressive change within the fashion industry.[16]
Black Designers of Canada
editIn 2020, Sully launched the online platform Black Designers of Canada to promote diversity in the fashion industry and promote black artists in Canada.[17][18] The website collected content via self and peer nominations on social media and through its website.[1] In 2021, he launched The Black Designers of Canada Award of Excellence to recognize Black designers and their achievements.[19][20]
References
edit- ^ a b c d The Kit (June 9, 2020). "George Sully On Making an Index of Black Designers in Canada". The Kit. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ "Designer & Founder -Black Designers of Canada". www.wear.fashiontakesaction.com/.
- ^ "Events". FGI Toronto | Celebrating Toronto Fashion. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c Wilson, Janet (August 25, 2014). "Sully Wong get their kicks from designing uber cool sneakers". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
- ^ Parker, Odessa Paloma (June 9, 2020). "George Sully is Creating an Index of Black Canadian Designers". Fashion Magazine. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ Halbert, Mosha Lundstrom (April 26, 2017). "How One Indie Sneaker Brand From Toronto Became a Fashion Insider Favorite". Footwear News. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ a b Han, Gregory (April 28, 2014). "Karim Rashid For Sully Wong Limited Edition Collection". Design Milk. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
- ^ "High school students might have designed Toronto's hottest new sneaker". CBC. Archived from the original on April 9, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ Caton, Hilary (November 4, 2016). "Central Toronto Academy students design sneaker sold at Gotstyle". Toronto.com. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ "WATCH — Students design a museum-worthy shoe". Kids News. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ Dare, Christian (September 24, 2020). "LG Partners With Canadian Designers On Fashion Forward Time Capsule Collection". AmongMen. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
- ^ "#TDThanksYou: TD recognizes customers who are spreading positivity across Canada". stories.td.com. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ "Creative Soles powered by Dell XPS". crave. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ "7 extraordinary industry & community leaders receiving honorary credentials at convocation". George Brown College. June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ "Andre De Grasse, Michele Romanow, George Sully added as Elevate Festival speakers". July 5, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
- ^ "George Sully – 2022 Change Maker Award | CAFA". Retrieved October 29, 2022.
- ^ "Shoe designer George Sully forms platform to celebrate black Canadian artists". thestar.com. June 8, 2020. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ Stewart, Jamila (July 2, 2020). "A Look Inside The Black Designers Of Canada Initiative". Essence. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
- ^ "This new award will recognize 100 Black Canadian designers". thestar.com. February 16, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ Canada, STYLE (February 11, 2021). "Breaking: 100 Black Canadian Designers Will Soon Be Honoured With An Award of Excellence". STYLE Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2021.