Edward O’Sullivan, Celebrity Stylist Dies at 52 – WWD

Edward O’Sullivan, a highly respected stylist who worked with numerous Hollywood celebrities and had deep fashion relationships, died April 27. He was 52.

The exact cause of death hasn’t been determined, but according to a New York Police Department spokesperson, the police responded to a 911 call at 9:59 p.m. on April 27 concerning an unconscious person in the vicinity of Hudson Street and Leroy Street in Manhattan. “Upon arrival, officers observed a male unconscious and injuries indicative of a fall from an elevated position. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing,” the spokesperson said.

O’Sullivan, who hailed from Castleisland in County Kerry, Ireland, moved to New York City in the early ’90s to pursue his career. One of his earliest jobs was working at Addison on Madison, a shirt and tie shop in Trump Tower. Other roles included sales jobs at Barneys New York, as well as being a personal shopper for celebrities at Prada and Helmut Lang.

O’Sullivan later landed corporate jobs, such as global senior director of celebrity dressing and entertainment at Polo Ralph Lauren and head of worldwide celebrity dressing and entertainment at Missoni. Afterward, O’Sullivan established his own consulting business, handling VIP and celebrity dressing and dealing with companies such as Tiffany, Bally, Belstaff, Harry Winston and Missoni. He also consulted for IMG.

O’Sullivan’s contact list read like a who’s who of Hollywood, and throughout his career he worked with everyone from Penélope Cruz to Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Freida Pinto, Lupita Nyong’o, Maria Sharapova and Jessica Chastain.

In a New York Times article in 2000, O’Sullivan, who was then a personal shopper at Prada, was described as having “a flair for pairing the gritty and the urbane.” He said his latest style quirk was wearing an ascot, which he said gave him “a bad-boy twist” by skipping the smoking coat and sporting it with jeans and a dark blue leather racing jacket. “An ascot gives that classic European touch to a downtown look. It’s very ‘Talented Mr. Ripley,’ very Jude Law. It’s aristocracy with a little edge,” he told the Times.

“Edward was so ahead of his time in what he did in VIP and the celebrity world. He did it before all the brands invested big money in it,” said Malcolm Carfrae, who owns his own global consulting firm, Carfrae Consulting. “He had incredible taste and intelligence and had the trust of celebrities.”

O’Sullivan was known as a people connector and enjoyed introducing his friends from all walks of life to one another.

“If someone was his friend, he wanted to share that friend and introduce you. He loved to connect people,” added Carfrae. “Edward lit up every room he walked into. He made you feel like you were the most special person. He was never selfish or egotistical.”

Hylda Queally, an agent in the motion picture department at CAA, said she knew O’Sullivan for 22 years and they shared their Irish heritage. She encountered him at the Cannes Film Festival, and she was working with an actress who had no contacts in the fashion business. She said she ran into O’Sullivan at one of the hotels, and she told him her predicament. “He said, ‘Come up to my room and I have a couple of dresses on racks and we’ll get her sorted,’” she said.

“He was the most generous, kind, unselfish person I had the privilege of knowing. I know so many people because of Edward. He was an incredibly giving and loving person with a keen eye for fashion and a work ethic that was unquestionable.”

She said he was always the first one to reach out on all the holidays, especially St. Patrick’s Day, which was his birthday. “My sisters and I refer to him as our ‘other brother.’” Anytime she would come to New York from Los Angeles, the first person she’d see was O’Sullivan.

“We were both immigrants from Ireland. We spoke that communal language and cherished being in a room and just getting the joke. We had that connection where we felt safe together and he was a lot fun,” said Queally.

Professionally, she said, O’Sullivan represented some of the most fashionable jewelry and fashion brands, and worked with many of her clients such as Blanchett, Winslet, Pinto, Nyong’o and Chastain.

While working at Ralph Lauren, O’Sullivan dressed numerous celebrities in Ralph Lauren, both on and off the carpet, including Jolie, Diane Kruger, Blanchett, Cruz, Emmy Rossum, Lindsay Lohan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kevin Costner, Patrick Dempsey, Gavin Rossdale and Jay-Z.

“Edward was truly a unique personality, and was beloved by so many of us that had the privilege to work with him. His ability to build bridges with different personalities around the world showcased the power of his charisma and the warmth of his spirit,” said David Lauren, vice chairman, chief branding and innovation officer at Ralph Lauren.

Samantha Barry, editor in chief of Glamour, said she met O’Sullivan when she moved to New York from Ireland in 2014 and was working at CNN. People were always asking her if she knew this Irish guy named Edward. She ran into him at Heidi Klum’s Halloween party and “here was this Irish guy dressed in a priest costume.” She went up to him and said he must be the guy that everyone always talks about.

“I was new and he was the kindest, most welcoming, most open person,” she said, and he would introduced her to many people, such as Karolina Kurkova.

Leslie Russo, the former president of IMG Fashion Events & Properties, said she brought O’Sullivan on board to advise the company in 2018, as they began to grow and expand in new directions.

“Edward was a quiet giant. He wasn’t loud or flashy. He was just elegant with deep fashion relationships and credibility. He had this fashion prowess,” she said. She said he advised the company on several projects, such as Johanna Ortiz’s 2020 resort show in New York and an M Missoni show in L.A., that featured a Missoni-branded double-decker sightseeing bus, where models exited to show off their M Missoni looks.

“Those were moments that were pivotal shifts for IMG in terms of taking IMG to new places,” said Russo. “It was impossible not to love Edward. He was wickedly funny, elegant, charismatic and humble and fiercely protective of the privacy of a very impressive clientele that made him a trusted confidante,” she said.

She would always recommend Edward for red carpet and event styling and last year, Maria Sharapova was looking for styling for the Met Gala and she called O’Sullivan. “She was stunning in a Gabriela Hearst goddess gown,” said Russo.

“He did a lot of styling but he didn’t make a lot of noise about it. He was very private and very quiet about it. He had a very high emotional intelligence,” she said.

Margherita Missoni recalled Wednesday how when she arrived in New York as a 19- or 20-year-old, O’Sullivan looked after her. “In my 20s, he was always a reassuring, comforting and grounded presence.” She said a few years later he started working at Missoni and was one of the first people she knew doing celebrity styling. He helped her mother present what she was doing to celebrities. He was also instrumental in introducing her to IMG, which produced their event in L.A. “which was a great moment.”

“He was thoughtful and never superficial. He was always asking questions to see how I was doing. He was really interested in how you were doing. He always put himself second,” said Missoni.

Georgina Chapman, cofounder of Marchesa, said O’Sullivan “was instrumental in navigating the path of my company into celebrity dressing and he had the insights of pairing talent with a brand that was way ahead of his time.”

O’Sullivan is survived by his mother, Johanna O’Sullivan, and four sisters, Mary Owens Christy, Denise Cullen, Helen O’Sullivan and Joanne Long. Plans for a memorial service haven’t been finalized.