CELEBRITY
Fashion Icon André Leon Talley, Dead At 73
Fashion legend André Leon Talley has died. He was 73.
The famed writer and former Vogue creative director had been in the hospital battling an unknown illness, TMZ reported Tuesday.
Talley first joined Vogue in 1983 as the magazine’s fashion news director. He quickly rose to creative director and editor-in-chief Anna Wintour’s right-hand — a position he held from 1987 to 1995.
Talley was the first Black person to occupy his position at Vogue. He left the magazine in 1995 and moved to Paris, where he returned to W Magazine after working at the publication earlier in his career.
He continued contributing to Vogue as an editor until he rejoined the magazine in 1998 full-time as the editor-at-large, writing the monthly column Style Fax. He stayed in this role until his final departure from Vogue in 2013.
Over his career, Talley also contributed to Women’s Wear Daily, The New York Times, and Interview Magazine.
In 2003 he released his first memoir, A.L.T.: A Memoir. In May 2020, he released his second titled The Chiffon Trenches, which chronicles his improbable rise from the front porch of his grandmother’s home in Durham, North Carolina, to the front rows of fashion.
Talley’s life and career would also be profiled in the 2018 documentary “The Gospel According to André.”
Talley, whose larger than life persona transcended fashion, also served as a judge over four seasons of “America’s Next Top Model” and he had a cameo in the first Sex In The City film.