Dara Oluwatoye
André Leon Talley, the African-American fashion journalist who was editor-at-large of American Vogue, is being remembered and mourned across the world as an iconic figure in fashion who had a penchant for discovering, nurturing and celebrating young designers and models.
Talley, who paved the way for black creatives in fashion, died in New York on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, a statement on his Instagram page says.
His death comes 51 days after Virgil Abloh, the Ghanaian-American artistic director of Louis Vuitton, died of cancer on November 28, 2021.
Talley, who served as the fashion advisor of the Obama family in 2008, was in Nigeria in April 2019 for the Arise Fashion Week and African premiere of ‘The Gospel According to Andre’.
He started his journey into the fashion world as an intern with former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1974. He rose to become news director and creative director before leaving in 1995. He returned to the magazine in 1998 and was editor-at-large until 2013.
“Talley was the larger-than-life, longtime creative director at Vogue during its rise to dominance as the world’s fashion bible,” the statement on his IG page read.
He was never in a relationship and never publicly defined his sexuality.
Mary Edoro, the Head of Content at Nigerian lifestyle blog – BellaNaija Style, told 234Star that Andre was one of the few people of colour she looked onto when she began her career in fashion editorial,
“Andre was one of the few people of colour that I had to look onto, and not just because he was a person of colour, but also in many ways. I wanted to mirror his style of writing,” Edoro said. “His style of journalism was just so factual, fabulous and entertaining, involving an in-depth breakdown of the fashion industry.”
Edoro, who described Andre’s death as ‘devastating’, said, “I was very much inspired by his story, journey and how his upbringing shaped his personality. He’s an icon, and his legacy will continue to live on.”
Media personality and fashion designer Fola Francis told 234Star that Talley was one of the reasons he got into fashion writing and creative direction.
Recounting his first encounter with the late fashion icon, Francis said “I first knew about ALT when I watched America’s next top model like a decade ago. People always say “never meet your heroes,” so you don’t get disappointed. When I met him here in Nigeria at the Arise fashion week 2019, I was in awe and couldn’t even muster the courage to talk to him at first.
Then I walked up to him, and he said he loved what I was wearing and also spoke about his love for Nigerian culture and our agbada, and how he intended on buying a lot of them because they were very much his style.”
Francis described Talley as a true icon and a cultural phenomenon who will be greatly missed.
Njideka Akabogu, the former Editor of 234Star, said learning about Talley validated her dreams as a fashion writer.
“I found out and started reading about him after I became Editor of 234Star. But in the time since then, I’ve learned so much about how much of an iconic figure he is, how big and colourful his personality is and how far-reaching his impact is,” Akabogu said.
“And what that did or has done is to sort of validate my dreams – and I think the same can be said for every other young, black creative who’s ever wanted to work in fashion. Because if that little black boy who was making trips to the library just to get his hands on a copy of Vogue could end up as one of fashion’s most legendary figures, then so can anyone else.”
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