André Leon Talley, the former creative director of Vogue and a fashion legend, has died at age 73.
According to TMZ, the famed fashion icon and journalist had been in the hospital for some time battling an undisclosed illness.
News of Talley’s passing began to circulate on social media late last night. Fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg posted a loving tribute on social media, writing, “Good bye darling André ❤️🙏… No one saw the world in a more glamorous way than you did ❤️🙏… no one was grander and more soulful than you were ❤️🙏…the world will be less joyfulI ❤️🙏 I have loved you and laughed with you for 45 years…. I miss your loud screams …I love you soooo much ❤️🙏.”
Talley’s started his storied career at Vogue in 1983 as the magazine’s fashion news director. In 1987, his career began to soar as he became the “right hand” to editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, a well-respected position he held from 1987 to 1995.
In 1995, Talley left Vogue and moved to Paris, where he rejoined W Magazine, a publication he had worked for earlier in his career.
Talley continued contributing to Vogue as an editor until he formally rejoined the magazine in 1998 full-time as the editor-at-large, writing his monthly column “Style Fax” until his final departure from the fashion imprint in 2013.