The Fashionable World of André Leon Talley Heads to Auction

The fashion world lost a legend in January 2022 with the passing of legendary fashion icon André Leon Talley. As you’d expect from the first black creative director of American Vogue – not to mention a pop culture superstar – he left behind a swoon-worthy treasure trove of haute couture, jewelry, handbags, artwork, and decorative arts.

The speculation began immediately, according to The New York Times. “What would happen to the collections he had amassed over the decades and squirreled away in his homes in White Plains, N.Y., and Durham, N.C., an Aladdin’s cave of artifacts that represented a certain style of luxury in the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries?”

The answer is: Sell.

Last week, Christies’s New York unveiled “The Collection of André Leon Talley,” a 448-lot auction featuring Talley’s one-of-a-kind possessions retrieved from his homes.

First stop: Palm Beach, Florida. From there, the tour will travel to Paris (during couture) and New York (during Fashion Week). The auction house is also launching a series of live and online auctions beginning January 27.

For the uninitiated, the collection can best be described as grand.

Talley lived flamboyantly, according to Architectural Digest. His house, the story goes, had four bedrooms – three of which were used as closets. And you’ve got to love the AD headline: “One Front-Row Seat at the André Leon Talley Auction, Please.”

We couldn’t agree more. A who’s who of noteworthy names spans fashion, art, and home décor. Hermès. Louis Vuitton. Chanel. Tom Ford. Andy Warhol. Annie Lebovitz. Richard Avedon. Baccarat. (You had us at Hermés.)

Not surprisingly, among the hallmark elements are Talley’s signature caftans – elaborate silks, cotton batiks, and embellished velvets. An impressive set of handbags and luggage features Birkin bags, a Prada trunk, and personalized Louis Vuitton suitcases.

“I came to Paris with 13 unmatched pieces of luggage. By the time I left, I had 34 matched sets,” Talley reportedly said.

Covetable artwork includes Warhol-signed screen prints and photographs by Horst P. Horst, Cecil Beaton, and Louise Dahl-Wolfe, among others. Furnishings run the gamut, from African wood stools (a gift from Vogue editor Anna Wintour) to a gilded marble-top Louis XV console.

Simply sorting through the contents of Talley’s two homes took “a team of specialists,” said Elizabeth Siegel, head of private and iconic collections at Christie’s.

“You know, we have no clue what will capture people’s imagination, what will get people to bid against one another,” she added. “Will it be one of Mr. Talley’s amazing caftans, or will it be a portrait of him?”

Proceeds from the sale will be split between the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, both Black-majority churches.

“Basically, what André did was monetize his fashion assets to secure the financial sustainability of two very important Black institutions of faith,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation and a friend of Talley’s since 1995.

Alexis E. Thomas, executor of Talley’s estate, summed it up this way: “This was probably André at his best — and, certainly, fashion at its highest.”