André Leon Talley, a fashion legend at auction

Disappeared a year ago, at the end of a career which will have introduced him to the whole nomenklatura of fashion, the American journalist and stylist André Leon Talley has left instructions to sell most of his possessions. It’s done with online auctions on the Christie’s site until February 16, as well as a physical sale in New York on February 15. Proceeds will be donated to two churches in the African-American community, in New York City and Durham, North Carolina.

Vuitton trunks with embossed initials, Hermès bags, boaters with grosgrain ribbon, capes and kaftans in silk, velvet or brocade… The lots immediately recall the imposing and sophisticated silhouette of the man who was one of the rare black professionals of the 20th century.^e century to evolve among fashion media elites, notably for the American edition of vogue, where he worked between 1983 and 2013.

They also testify to her frequentations, from Andy Warhol (paintings from 1984) to Yves Saint Laurent (undated collages) or Anna Wintour (a portrait of her from 2015, by Annie Leibovitz). But the sale especially magnifies his links with Karl Lagerfeld. This friend “extremely generous with material things” and sometimes cruel “like a vampire”as he wrote in his Memoirs (The Chiffon Trenches, 2020, untranslated), has long covered him with gifts, now scattered: from amethyst jewelry with drawings signed by his hand, to jackets or improbable tennis rackets and hot water bottle with Chanel logo.