Celebrities Pay Tribute to Former Vogue Creative Director André Leon Talley

Members of the fashion and entertainment industry are honoring André Leon Talley after the former Vogue creative director died Tuesday at the age of 73.

On Tuesday, TMZ broke the news that the style icon passed away Tuesday at a hospital in White Plains, New York, from an undisclosed illness.

Friend Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, later confirmed the news, writing in a statement, “André Leon Talley was a singular force in an industry that he had to fight to be recognized in.”

After the devastating news broke, Anna Wintour, the current Vogue editor-in-chief who was a longtime colleague of Talley’s, honored her friend of nearly 40 years with an obituary posted on the magazine’s website.

"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; and, not forgetting, the multitude of colleagues over the years who were consistently buoyed by every new discovery of André's, which he would discuss loudly, and volubly — no one could make people more excited about the most seemingly insignificant fashion details than him,” Wintour wrote.

Though Talley and Wintour have had a tumultuous relationship through the years — as chronicled in his 2020 memoir, “The Chiffon Trenches” — Wintour said the pain of losing Talley feels "immeasurable."

"Yet 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," she continued.

Additionally, other celebrities, including our very own Loni Love, wrote tributes to Talley on social media.

Born in Washington, D.C., Talley first joined Vogue in 1983 as the magazine's fashion news director. He became the publication’s creative director from 1987 to 1995.

After leaving Vogue, the journalist moved to Paris and returned to W magazine, where he had worked earlier in his career.

While he continued to contribute to Vogue as an editor, he rejoined the magazine full-time in 1998 as editor-at-large until his final departure in 2013.

Talley has also contributed to Women's Wear Daily, The New York Times, and Interview magazine.