Remembering André Leon Talley, a Fashion Icon
The impactful fashion journalist and former editor of Vogue has died aged 73. We look back on the pictures which defined him.
The impactful fashion journalist and former editor of Vogue has died aged 73. We look back on the pictures which defined him.
'It's a famine of beauty, honey! My eyes are starving for beauty', booms the late André Leon Talley in The September Issue (2008). The film, which centres on the lead up to the biggest issue of the year at Vogue US, where he joined in 1983 assisting former editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland, shows the journalist's immeasurable impact on the fashion industry. From iconic one liners such as this, to being an impeccably dressed front row fixture wearing bespoke fabulously campy suits in the 80s and later iconic kaftans made for him by the likes of Valentino Garavani and Daniel Day (Dapper Dan) - one of the many creatives he welcomed into the fold of the fashion industry - Talley was a treasured individual.
Also working for Andy Warhol's Interview, Ebony, WWD and the New York Times, Talley brought with him an unrivalled plethora of knowledge. With a Masters in French Literature, he left his upbringing with his grandmother in the American South of North Carolina for the world of fashion in New York in the early 1970s. He was adored by those he met, and counted many designers including Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Roy Halston and Tom Ford as firm friends, alongside models like Naomi Campbell. In an industry which can be fickle to say the least, Talley was known for his kindness, even in his mighty position as creative director of Vogue working closely with Anna Wintour. 'Fashion does not take care of its people...No one is going to take care of me, except I am going to take care of myself', he once told the New York Times.
From his formidable presence on the red carpet to his writing, and being the first African-American man to join Vogue, he undoubtedly paved the way for fashion as we see it today in more ways than one. Just last year, he was honoured with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contribution to the arts. British Vogue's editor-in-chief Edward Enninful wrote this morning that 'Without you, there would be no me.'
The news of his death on 18 January 2022 was announced on his Instagram this morning.
Watch fashion journalist Vanessa Friedman's take on Talley's appearance in SHOWstudio's The Narrated Catwalk series.
In November 2021, the late André Leon Talley was in conversation with Nick Knight and SHOWstudio over email, as he was planning to take part in our series The Narrated Catwalk, where we invite fashion critics to talk about their chosen runway moments on camera. Sadly, we never got to film André. We did, however, receive his top 3 fashion shows.
“These are my favourite shows, historical and emotional”, he told us.