Savas Abadsidis

Savas Abadsidis is a American-born gay journalist of Greek descent. He is closely associated with the rise of branded media in popular culture.., having created the A&F Quarterly for retailer Abercrombie & Fitch. Savas is also credited with helping to mainstream gay culture in the US through his association with publications like XY (magazine), The Advocate (LGBT magazine), Chill Magazine, and HIV-Plus Magazine
Savas Abadsidis (born 1973) is an American writer, editor, and producer closely associated with rise of branded content in American popular culture, having created the Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly for U.S. retailer Abercrombie & Fitch and innovator of Complex Magazine owned by retailer Marc Ecko Enterprises.
 
He is the co-founder (with timmy.com aka Timmy Rheault) of GayNrd LLC a news, art, and culture site dedicated to empowering and lifting up young gay men through positive representation and business opportunities.
 
He attended Vassar College and Hobart & William Smith Colleges.Hobart and William Smith Colleges
 
Abadsidis was born in Poughkeepsie, New York to Greek and Polish immigrant parents and grew up in Saugerties and Poughkeepsie, NY as the oldest of three siblings. 
 
Abadsidis expressed an interest in the arts at a young age and participated in theater and music throughout the entirety of his early and secondary education and as an undergraduate at Vassar and Hobart.
 
Abadsidis explored his interests through a variety of internships while at Hobart and William Smith including for producer Joel Silver at Warner Bros. Studio, as well as for producers Dan Petrie Jr. and Peter Hume on a pilot for Toe Tags, and in the advertising department at Paper Magazine.
 
These experiences led him to pursue a career as a journalist and screenwriter.
==Career==
After graduating from Hobart, Abadsidis worked as an assistant for architect Stephen Miller Siegel who recommended him to his friend advertising legend Sam Shahid who hired him as an assistant.
 
In 1996 he was hired by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, a client of Shahid’s, to be the Editor-in-Chief of the A&F Quarterly. The so-called “magalog” was huge influence on 90s teen and youth culture.
 
In 2004, Abadsidis was tapped by Marc Ecko as Executive Editor of his branded content magazine Complex. Complex Media remains a strong presence in fashion and music. At Ecko, Abadsidis worked in tandem with former Vibe Editor-in-Chief Emil Wilbekin to energize the company including its acquisition of skate brand Zoo York.
 
In 2007 he was hired as the West Coast Editor of Wizard Magazine a leader in the comic book industry. Subsequent editorial positions included stints at B Mag the successor of XY Magazine with Peter Ian Cummings and Tally Ho! Magazine with British fashion photographer Phil Knott.
 
In 2013 Abadsidis was hired by Pride Media CEO and veteran LGBT journalist Diane Anderson-Minshall to serve as senior editor for their print suite of magazines which included The Advocate, Out, HIV Plus, and Chill magazines.
 
In 2015 Abadsidis wrote and produced a powerful and controversial PSA advocating the use of Gilead Sciences’ drug Truvada as a HIV pre-prophylactic starring gay adult film star J.D. Phoenix.
 
In 2018 he was hired as editor of Towleroad News by founder Andy Towle.
 
In 2019 he and Rheault founded GayNrd.com.
 
In 2022, Abadsidis starred in the Netflix documentary White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch.White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch
==Personal Life==
From 2001 until 2009, Abadsidis was in a civil union with Yale Law School graduate and attorney Hugh A. Eastwood. The couple were married in Toronto in 2005 (Eastwood is a Canadian citizen), and the couple resided together in New York City, New Haven, CT, and Los Angeles.
Category:LGBT journalists
Category:1973 births