Martha Stewart Among YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund Honorees
The YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund is honoring Macy’s president Hal Lawton, Ryan Seacrest, and Martha Stewart at its 82nd Annual Scholarship Awards dinner, which is being held on Jan. 10 at the New York Hilton Midtown.
The nonprofit will be awarding $1 million in scholarships at the event “to talented students from leading universities and colleges nationwide,” fund organizers said in a statement. Past honorees of the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund dinner include Ralph Lauren, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jessica Simpson and Tommy Hilfiger as well as Christian Siriano, Kenneth Cole and Iris Apfel. Prior honorees have also included Dr. Joyce Brown, Tim Gunn, Chip Bergh, Jeff Gennette, Mindy Grossman, Kenneth Wyse, Katia Beauchamp and Stephen Sadove.
Over the past five years, 1,200 students have received more than $11 million. “Additionally, the Fashion Scholarship Fund has placed more than a thousand scholars into positions with prominent companies throughout the industry,” fund organizers noted.
William Susman, president of YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund, described this year’s honorees as “exceptional leaders in the entertainment, lifestyle, fashion and retail industries who inspire the next generation of rising talent.” Over 200 students will be cited this year and will receive between $5,000 and $35,000.
Susman said Stewart, Seacrest and Lawton’s “passion and entrepreneurial spirits truly represent our organization’s values.”
Regarding the student winners of the scholarships, fund organizers said in a statement that the fashion and retail industry’s “most accomplished veterans will gather to honor these young men and women who will be recognized for their exceptional achievements and future contributions to the fashion industry.”
The fund has a roster of member schools that include the Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons-The New School of Design, New York University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Kent State University, Harvard University, the University of Arizona, Rhode Island School of Design, Clark Atlanta University, the University of California Los Angeles, and Savannah College of Art and Design, among others.
The dinner serves as a fund-raiser for the fund, which was launched in 1937.
For more information, see: https://www.ymafsf.org
Related stories
Monetizing Word of Mouth With Wildlink
How The/Studio Aims to Up-End Manufacturing
Torrid's New CEO Aims to Buckle Down on Fits, Customer Experience
Get more from WWD: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
