André Leon Talley’s personal collection is up for auction. How an NC church will benefit
A dazzling collection of items belonging to the late André Leon Talley will be auctioned off later this month with part of the proceeds going to his childhood church in Durham.
Over 60 pieces of rare art, accessories, designer clothing, jewelry and photography that belonged to the renowned fashion editor will be up for auction through Christie’s, a major New York City auction house. The collection, each piece valued for thousands of dollars, will be sold both online and at a live auction.
The auction, what The New York Times is calling “the fashion sale of the century,” was announced Tuesday, the day before the anniversary of his death. Talley, a Durham-born fashion journalist who was renowned internationally for his style, died Jan. 18, 2022. Talley, who spent much of his career as a leader at Vogue magazine, was 73.
The auction house said proceeds will be split between Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church, a historically Black church in Durham that Talley attended as a child, and the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City, one of the oldest African-American churches in the U.S.
“André was an intellectual and held a lifelong dedication to social justice and a pioneering vision for Black creators and luminaries,” said Alexis Thomas, executor of Talley’s estate, in a statement provided by Christie’s. “André saw his collection of beautiful objects, laden with fashion history, as his legacy, and it’s an honor to ensure that its sale will benefit the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and Mount Sinai Church in Durham.”
Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation and a friend of Talley’s, told The New York Times: “Basically what André did was monetize his fashion assets to secure the financial sustainability of two very important Black institutions of faith.”
Mount Sinai Church said its leaders had been notified of the auction but declined to comment further.
Durham roots
Talley was born in 1948 and raised in Durham by his grandmother, Bennie Frances Davis. She worked as a housekeeper at Duke University and allowed him to take his quarters to buy Vogue magazines after church at Mt. Sinai on Sundays.
Talley once wrote that Davis was a “mother figure” to him who introduced him to the world of fashion that he dreamed to be a part of one day.
Talley went to Hillside High School and graduated from North Carolina Central University with a degree in French studies. He spent time in the circles of the fashion and art elite, breaking barriers as a Southern Black man in the fashion industry.
He worked at Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, Women’s Wear Daily and The New York Times.
American Vogue became his home, starting in 1983. He became creative director in 1988, the first Black man to fill the role. Working alongside renowned editor Anna Wintour, he eventually became editor-at-large. He left the magazine in 2013.
He wrote two memoirs — “ALT: A Memoir” in 2003 and “The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir” in 2020 — and starred in a 2018 documentary about his life, “The Gospel According to André.”
But he never forgot his roots in Durham and often visited North Carolina. In 2019, he returned to Hillside High School, where he received the key to the city, The N&O reported.
What’s in André Leon Talley’s collection?
The collection features hundreds of items that Talley acquired throughout his life, containing bits of art and fashion history from the past century.
“The Collection of André Leon Talley,” comprised of 448 lots, will be taken on a tour of sorts to Palm Beach, Fla., Paris Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week before 68 lots will be sold at a live auction on Feb. 15. (Coincidentally, former Durham Mayor Steve Schewel named Feb. 15 as “André Leon Talley Day” in 2019.)
Other items will be sold online from Jan. 27 to Feb. 16, Christie’s said.
The auction includes several of Talley’s famed sartorial items: his extravagant capes, caftans and shawls, each projected to go for thousands of dollars each.
The collection also includes rare pieces from Gucci, Tom Ford, Chanel and Louis Vuitton, including a set of monogrammed Louis Vuitton trunks, as well as signed sketches from famed designers like Karl Lagerfield and Gianni Versace.
Artist Andy Warhol is featured prominently. Up for auction is a 1981 photo of a young Talley seated next to none other than Warhol and Bianca Jagger at her birthday dinner at the legendary Mortimer’s restaurant in New York.
“These represent only a small segment of the close personal and professional relationships Talley cultivated throughout his lengthy career,” the auction house said. “As a luminary of fashion and a trailblazing figure, he left the world better than he found it, embracing luxury in all senses of the word.”
