We said goodbye to yet another great this week, as André Leon Talley, former longtime creative director for Vogue and fashion icon, passed away at age 73, according to a statement from his official Instagram page. The larger-than-life personality died in New York on January 18.
“Over the past five decades as an international icon was a close confidant of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Paloma Picasso, Diane von Furstenberg, Bethann Hardison, Manolo Blahnik, and he had a penchant for discovering, nurturing, and celebrating young designers,” the statement reads.
Talley was known as a pioneer in the fashion industry, as a Black man in a world long dominated by white people.
“I worked behind the scenes. I did it in dulcet tones, and I was persistent and tenacious … I always assumed a very quiet role. I didn’t scream and yell and shout … That was the best strategy, because that was the world I moved in. After all, it was Vogue, darling,” he said at a 2017 event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Talley was born in Washington, D.C. and moved to North Carolina at two months old, where he was raised by his grandmother.
Talley describes in his 2020 memoir his early passion for fashion, exploring the books at the Durham city library.
“My world became the glossy pages of Vogue, where I could read about Truman Capote’s legendary ball, given at the Plaza, in honor of Katharine Graham,” Talley wrote.
Talley moved to New York in 1974 and quickly entered the hectic world of fashion and art, collaborating with names like Halston, Karl Lagerfeld, and Andy Warhol. He joined Vogue in 1983 as news director, moving into his role as creative director in 1988 and later serving as editor-at-large, remaining a staple at the publication for nearly four decades.
His byline appeared in Vanity Fair, HG, Interview, and Ebony and Women’s Wear Daily. Alongside his memoir, he’s written a number of books and was the subject of the documentary The Gospel According to André.
He since became an elite member of the fashion community, often seen sitting front-and-center next to editor-in-chief Anna Wintour at fashion shows, and his influence rippled through the community even following his departure from the magazine in 2013.
Following the news, colleagues immediately voiced their grief and Talley’s impact. Writer Roxane Gay described him on Twitter as a “beacon of style for so many,” while British Vogue Editor-In-Chief Edward Enninful thanked the icon for “paving the way” for him and others in the industry. “Without you, there would be no me.”
OFM mourns this immense loss and thanks Talley for his contributions to the fashion community and culture as a whole. Rest in peace to a legend.
Photo courtesy of André Leon Talley’s Instagram page
