ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY

No one knew more about the world of fashion than André Leon Talley. The formidable, cape-wearing former Vogue editor passed away January 18th, and needless to say, it was a loss felt by many.

Talley got his start in fashion as an intern for famed former Vogue Editor-in-Chief Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Opportunities blossomed from there, and he soon fell in with the Andy Warhol crowd at Interview magazine. He went on to leave his mark at Women’s Wear Daily and the New York Times before eventually becoming the news director at Vogue in 1983. Anna Wintour named him Creative Director there in 1988, and he continued to lend his amazing talents and knowledge at Vogue until 2013, save for a three-year stint at W magazine in Paris.

 

 

His presence in the fashion industry was a big one, not only because of his large stature, but because he was the first Black man to hold such a high position at Vogue (and often the only Black man in the front row of fashion shows). He kept close friendships with designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Diane von Furstenberg, and Marc Jacobs (just to name a few), and his opinions were ones that actually truly mattered to them. His breadth of fashion knowledge about everything from fabrics to trends to individual collections (he could literally conjure up a specific designer’s collection by season simply from memory) simply could not be matched, and designers would often pick his brain to make sure their collections were well-proportioned and viable.

 

 

Talley was also a champion for other Black people in the fashion industry. For instance, he was the first high-powered fashion figure to write about LaQuan Smith back in 2010, when Talley was a guest at the then up-and-coming designer’s show. Talley was immediately impressed by Smith’s self-taught nature, and he famously told his assistant to “clear whatever I have to do Monday – I’ve got to go to that show.” Smith is now a well-known designer with hugely sought-after collections, and Talley’s keen eye for fresh talent is exactly what got him there.

 

 

Talley wrote his first book ALT: A Memoir in 2003, and followed that up with The Chiffon Trenches in 2020 (an absolute must-read, especially for his first-person account of the famous fallout with Anna Wintour). He remained a fixture during the age of the internet – as fashion grew into more of a mass entertainment phenomenon, so did he. He was heavily featured in 2009’s The September Issue, which chronicled the making of Vogue’s most important yearly issue, and he served as a judge on America’s Next Top Model in 2010 and 2011. Let’s also not forget about his famous perch atop the steps of the Met Gala red carpet, where nary a celebrity would even think of saying no to an interview with him.

 

 

From his conservative, church-based upbringing in Jim Crow-era North Carolina to the runways of New York and Paris, André Leon Talley always knew he had a gift. He set his sights early in life on the fashion industry, and busted open doors that at the time were all but locked. Once Talley started making his mark, he never looked back, and because of his perseverance, the world of fashion has been forever moved forward.