19 January 2022

Anna Wintour has paid tribute to André Leon Talley following on from his death.

Anna Wintour pays tribute to André Leon Talley

The 72-year-old Vogue icon was the onetime boss of fashion journalist Andre – who died of a heart attack on 18.01.2022 aged 73 – and has released a statement about her “boundary-breaking” ex-colleague.

She said: “The loss of André is felt by so many of us today: the designers he enthusiastically cheered on every season, and who loved him for it; the generations he inspired to work in the industry, seeing a figure who broke boundaries while never forgetting where he started from; those who knew fashion, and Vogue, simply because of him.”

Anna – who has served as Editor-in-Chief of the world-famous fashion magazine since 1988 while Andre worked under her as Editor-at-Large from 1998 to 2013 – went on to describe the loss of her “colleague and friend” as “immeasurable.”

In a statement posted to Vogue’s official website, she continued: “It’s the loss of André as my colleague and friend that I think of now; it’s immeasurable. He was magnificent and erudite and wickedly funny—mercurial, too. Like many decades-long relationships, there were complicated moments, but all I want to remember today, all I care about, is the brilliant and compassionate man who was a generous and loving friend to me and to my family for many, many years, and who we will all miss so much.”

Following stints at Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine and Women’s Wear Daily, Andre quickly worked his way up the ranks at fashion bible Vogue, going from fashion news director from 1983 to 1987, to the first African-American creative director from 1988 to 1995.

Anna and Andre fell out in 2018 when she replaced him with a YouTube star for the red carpet interviews at the Met Gala and he was still hurt about the snub years later.

He said: “If Anna had called and said, ‘André, we’re thinking of going in a different direction [for the Met ball], it’s important for our brand,’ I would have said, ‘Fine. That’s great.’ And I’d have come in my Tom Ford cape – I always wear Tom Ford – and enjoyed my dinner.

“It felt like I was just thrown under the bus. It hurt!”