André Leon Talley (born October 16, 1948, Washington, D.C., U.S.—died January 18, 2022, White Plains, New York) was an American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director, and editor-at-large of Vogue magazine , who grew up in the segregated South and rose through the historically white ranks of his industry to become the first Black person to serve as creative director (1988–95) of American Vogue
His upbringing was marked by the presence of his grandmother, Bennie Frances Davis, a domestic worker at Duke University who raised him with faith, and discipline. In his memoir The Chiffon Trenches, Talley credited his grandmother as the cornerstone of his identity and his earliest understanding of elegance. Growing up Black and Gay in the Jim Crow South, Talley often found solace in fashion magazines.
Talley earned his bachelor’s degree in French literature from North Carolina Central University in 1970 and went on to pursue a master’s degree at Brown University. There, he focused on French literature and immersed himself in European culture, aspiring to work in fashion or art. After Brown, he moved to New York City and inserted himself into the center of the cultural universe.
His big break came with an unpaid apprenticeship with Diana Vreeland (editor-in-chief of Vogue who later became a special consultant to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.) From that position, he moved on to write for Interview Magazine , Women’s Wear Daily, The New York Times, and eventually Vogue
He spent much of his early professional life based in Paris ,forming personal and professional relationships with designers from the era .
He described himself as “the only Black man among a sea of white titans of style.”
In 1983, Talley joined Vogue as fashion news director, later becoming creative director and editor-at-large, he curated fashion exhibitions and counseled aspiring designers
Andre helped to shape the way we understand and talk about fashion
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