{"id":47628,"date":"2022-01-19T19:38:53","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T19:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=47628"},"modified":"2022-01-20T13:44:42","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T13:44:42","slug":"remembering-andre-leon-talley","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/remembering-andre-leon-talley\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Andr\u00e9 Leon Talley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Andre <\/span><\/p>\n

The impact Andr\u00e9 Leon Talley has had on the industry is immeasurable. The proof is in the outpour following the news of his death late last night from friends, family, peers, and people who may have never met him yet felt his powerful force and influence in their lives. For me, growing up in southern Virginia, a 3-hour car ride away from ALT’s hometown of Durham, North Carolina, his career and life fascinated me. A Black man from a small town in the south, the first to hold his position at <\/span>Vogue <\/span><\/em>and have influence to pave the way for those like myself to look up to. He called fashion legends like Marc Jacobs and Diane Von Furstenberg friends and had the opportunity of interviewing designers of coveted fashion houses across the world’s fashion capitals. He was not merely an inspiration but a pioneer in opening these doors for others to follow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fashion as a career was and in some cases still is farfetched from reality in the south. I spent many of my high school days absorbing Andre Leon Talley’s prolific zeitgeist of encyclopedic fashion knowledge. From his vast archive of runway interviews, documentaries, and literature reads, I fell in love with fashion, more profound than the glitz and glam most youth dream of but as a proper art form and a world I found comfort in. That doesn’t go without saying his glorious signature caftans gave major style inspirations for my 16-year-old self. In his 2017 biopic “The Gospel According to Andr\u00e9 Leon Talley,” he says, “clothes are my security blanket, and my outfits are my armor against the world of the chiffon trenches.” As a youth deciding on my path in life, I would rewind and play these words on repeat, and it wasn’t until then I felt my calling was fashion despite the nontraditional route it would be from my peers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Years following, After moving to New York City for college and fashion\u2014more so the latter. Much like Andr\u00e9 Leon Talley, I started with an unpaid internship as soon as I arrived. I would volunteer my time to get exposure in the industry as much as possible, some nights helping set up for events instead of studying for an exam the next morning. Being a hands-on learner, I craved to learn everything I could about fashion by actually doing it rather than sitting in a classroom hearing about it. I would practice my reporting skills by watching the shows and writing my own reviews in Microsoft Word. Although the “coverage” didn’t go any further than my personal files, It served as my own personal experience to grow and find my own voice as a writer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A post shared by TY GASKINS (@ty.gaskins)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n