Well known to the readers of Vogue U.S., André Leon Talley is one of the most influential critics in the world of fashion. His stature, extravagant custom-made outfits and huge black sunglasses make him a very colorful character without whom the shows would not be the same.
Born in 1949, Talley was raised by his grandmother. Despite working as a cleaning woman, she succeeded in providing him with a warm and loving home that he remembers fondly. He grew up in an America where racial segregation was still in force. He endured in silence without ever losing conscience of his value and dignity.
It was his junior high school French teacher who gave him a taste for literature, aesthetics and art, and who influenced his whole life. Talley became attracted to fashion as a teenager. One June afternoon, he discovered an edition of Vogue at local library and became a dedicated reader.
When he was later asked where he got his infallible sense of style, he replied, Vogue. However, his grandmother brought him to church every Sunday where he noticed the women dressed to the nines and began to understand what elegance was. "You saw beautiful images of women, beautiful church hats and gloves. These were not people of great means and wealth, but they had the most wonderful style-especially on Sundays."Despite his strong attraction to fashion, he decided to study French. Once he finished his masters from Brown University, he moved to New York where he became a member of the avant-garde art scene that included Andy Warhol and Bianca Jagger. During this period, very few African Americans were admitted in this kind of circle, and even less in fashion journalism.
In his first job as a freelance fashion journalist for Women's Wear Daily, his presence made his colleagues, who were not used to working on equal footing with a person of color, uncomfortable. Despite the seething looks, Talley continued on his path. Diana Vreeland, the editor in chief for Vogue from 1962 to 1971, was taken with Talley and made him her protégé. As she was also in charge of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collections, she took Talley on as her assistant.
Little by little, Talley became highly valued in the fashion business. He went on to work for Interview then for the New York Times. He was hired by Vogue in 1983 as the fashion news editor. Only five years later he was promoted to creative director, and with the title acquired an impressive power in the fashion world.
He took advantage of his position to showcase African American designers and demanded that designers choose more models of color for their shows and ad campaigns. He found it incomprehensible that an internationally sold label would not include models from all over the world.
In 1995, he was recruited by W as the fashion editor then bureau chief of their Parisian offices. In 1998, he returned to Vogue as editor-at-large. His column, entitled "Stylefax," was widely anticipated and read. His column has evolved into a monthly and is called "Life with André." In 2003, he published his memoirs, entitled A.L.T.
Talley is the African American reference in fashion and no one can match him. In 2003, the Council of Fashion Designers of America awarded him the Eugenia Sheppard prize for his work as a fashion journalist. Talley commented that they could have given him the prize a long time ago.
For over 30 years, Talley has appeared in the first row of all the shows next to Anna Wintour, from Paris to Milan to New York to London. He has worked with the most prestigious players in fashion and Hollywood. His friend, Karl Lagerfeld (introduced to him by Warhol in 1975) designs his long coats so that his ever-increasing corpulence maintains a noble appearance. Talley describes his coats, "Like a teepee that could house a family of Lilliputians."
Talley is simultaneously a superstar, a fashion icon, and a little boy who continues to be amazed by the designers' creativity. He has maintained an unbiased regard that makes him highly valuable and respected in fashion and trend analysis.
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