Anna Wintour, fashion world mourn the death of André Leon Talley
KATE FELDMAN
Tributes poured in Wednesday for Andre Leon Talley, the fashion icon whose sense of style left its mark for more than a half-century.
Talley, a bestselling author, longtime editor-at-large at Vogue and former judge on “America’s Next Top Model,” died Tuesday in White Plains at 73.
His former boss at Vogue, editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, heaped praised on Talley.
“The loss of Andre is felt by so many of us today: the designers he enthusiastically cheered on every season, and who loved him for it; the generations he inspired to work in the industry, seeing a figure who broke boundaries while never forgetting where he started from; those who knew fashion, and Vogue, simply because of him; and, not forgetting, the multitude of colleagues over the years who were consistently buoyed by every new discovery of Andre’s” Wintour said in a statement.
Talley left Vogue in 2013, and his relationship with Wintour soured after she had him replaced on the red carpet of the Met Gala in 2018. Talley had some pointed words for Wintour in his 2020 memoir “The Chiffon Trenches,” calling her “not capable of simple human kindness.”
Editor in Chief of Vogue and Global Chief Content Officer for Conde Nast Anna Wintour on Oct. 2, 2021.
Editor in Chief of Vogue and Global Chief Content Officer for Conde Nast Anna Wintour on Oct. 2, 2021. (CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/)
Wintour noted the ups and downs in her statement.
“He was magnificent and erudite and wickedly funny — mercurial, too,” she said. “Like many decades-long relationships, there were complicated moments, but all I want to remember today, all I care about, is the brilliant and compassionate man who was a generous and loving friend to me and to my family for many, many years, and who we will all miss so much.”
Talley, raised by his grandmother in Durham, N.C., worked his way up through Women’s Wear Daily, W and the New York Times before landing at Vogue in 1983, where he would remain for most of the next four decades.
“Good bye darling André,” designer Diane von Furstenberg wrote after his death. “No one saw the world in a more elegant and glamorous way than you did. No one was more soulful and grander than you were. The world will be less joyful now. I have loved you and laughed with you for 45 years…. I will miss your loud screams and your loyal friendship…I love you soooo much.”
Talley spent decades at Vogue, revitalizing the fashion industry.
Talley spent decades at Vogue, revitalizing the fashion industry. (Neilson Barnard/)
Fashion designer Marc Jacobs wrote he was “in shock” over his friend’s death. . “You championed me and you have been my friend since my beginning. Our chats, the moments we shared….oh my friend. You and your passions were larger than life.”
Fashion designer duo Tom and Lorenzo called him “the King of American Style.”
“We won’t see his like again,” they wrote.
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