Large and Larger-than-Life, Former Vogue Editor André Leon Talley, Has Died at 73
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Fashion writer André Leon Talley has died at 73 years old.
Talley is most famous for his job as a fashion editor at Vogue magazine and his side-kick role to editrix Anna Wintour. He was both larger-than-life and large in person. He was 6 foot 6 inches and big. He struggled with weight his whole life and wore caftans that hid his girth.
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People: Talley was hired at Vogue in 1983 by then editor Grace Mirabella. At the time, Anna Wintour was in the number-two spot at the magazine. Eventually Wintour rose to editor in chief in 1988 and she took him with her. Wintour made her mark at the magazine and, subsequently, became the most powerful person in fashion and Talley was by her side.
When Talley entered his mid 40s, he began to gain weight. “I began to realize I had a problem. I had never exercised.” He was feeling particularly un-Vogue-like one day (dressed in a jumpsuit, as he recalls) and Wintour took notice. She called him at his desk and told him, “You need to start working out.” He lost weight and could once again “wear my beautiful suits.” He gained weight again. In 2004, there was an intervention. He was called to the Vogue conference dining room. While it took him a year to agree, he eventually went to Duke University Diet and Fitness Center for a several-week stint. “I emailed Anna every day about my weight loss.” He left Vogue in 2013 and contributed for a few more years.
The famed writer and former Vogue creative director had been in the hospital battling an unknown illness, TMZ reported Tuesday.
News of Talley’s death quickly circulated on social media, with designer Diane von Fürstenberg writing on Instagram, “Good bye darling André ❤️????… No one saw the world in a more glamorous way than you did ❤️????… no one was grander and more soulful than you were ❤️????…the world will be less joyfulI ❤️???? I have loved you and laughed with you for 45 years…. I miss your loud screams …I love you soooo much ❤️????.”
People: 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. He left Vogue in 1995 and moved to Paris, where he returned to W Magazine after working at the publication earlier in his career.
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Talleys’ Instagram posted today: “It is with great sadness we announce the passing of André Leon Talley on January 18, 2022 in New York. Mr. Talley was the larger-than-life, longtime creative director at Vogue during its rise to dominance as the world’s fashion bible. Over the past five decades as an international icon was a close confidant of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Paloma Picasso, Diane von Furstenberg, Bethann Hardison, Manolo Blahnik and he had a penchant for discovering, nurturing and celebrating young designers. His byline appeared in Vanity Fair, HG, Interview, Ebony and Women’s Wear Daily and he was the editor of Numero Russia. Mr. Talley wrote several books, including Valentino, A.L.T.: A Memoir, A.L.T. 365+ and Little Black Dress for Assouline, and contributed to Valentino: At the Emperor’s Table and Cartier Panthère. He was the subject of the documentary The Gospel According to André and his recent memoir, The Chiffon Trenches became a New York Times Best Seller. In 2014, he was named artistic director of Zappos Couture, and he has been on the Board of Trustees of Savannah College of Art and Design since 2000. Mr. Talley was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Republic in 2020 and the North Carolina Governor’s award for literature in 2021. He was a long-standing member of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church. ????”
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