He passed away at the age of seventy-three Andrè-Leon Talley, an imposing and legendary figure of what now – if we exclude the immovable Anna Wintour – is the old establishment of international fashion. Old for age limits but also for a change of scene one could say brutal, instigated by a somewhat insidious and utilitarian interpretation of important themes such as inclusion and multiculturalism. Talley, black and proud of his origins, had a stellar success in a predominantly white environment, in years in which, however, talent and, of course, connections, but also know-how, carried far.
Journalist of the paper and creative director
Hungry for beauty – as proof on Google is an exhilarating video sequence – expressed by written journalism – eloquent and lively – for Wwd, to the creative direction of Vogue, an immaterial but decisive role. In the best years of Wintour, he who had worked with Diana Vreeland, brought culture, humor and, it is hard to say today that it is blasphemy, elitism. Interpreter of the best American thought, or of self-determination by ability, he used to say: “You can be an aristocrat even without being born there.” A powerful affirmation, in spite of the caste closures that he first broke, while maintaining the high, flamboyant, aristocratic, truly elitist taste.
Confidant of the stylists and friend of Karl Lagerfeld
With Talley goes a great narrator of style, confidant and instigator of infinite designers – his relationship with Karl Lagerfeld was very close. Nostalgia paralyzes, but of Talley’s figure and work, larger than life in every sense, the sense of beauty and excess resonates clearly, the idea that we can express ourselves with fashion even just to inspire, delight the eye, stimulate thought, not necessarily to sell. Because fashion is at least as much commerce as it is culture, but today this second aspect is often neglected or, worse, distorted.