André Leon Talley’s name and influence stretch far and wide — his contributions to fashion and beyond have made him one of the most recognizable figures in the industry. With his larger-than-life personality and style, Talley remains one of the most foremost people in fashion, even posthumously.
A new exhibition by the Savannah College of Art and Design, “André Leon Talley: Style Is Forever,” celebrates the life, legacy and achievements of Talley — curated by Rafael Brauer Gomes, creative director of SCAD FASH museums.
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As a beloved friend of the university, the exhibition — presented across the university’s museums in Savannah and Atlanta — showcases the private collection of looks that Talley wore. The tribute was made possible by Talley’s bequest of personal garments, accessories, photographs and more to the SCAD permanent collection.
Designers on display include Tom Ford for Gucci, Miuccia Prada, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Gianni Versace, Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga, John Galliano for Dior, Chado Ralph Rucci, Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy and Isabel Toledo — all on custom mannequins cast from a sculpture of Talley by SCAD alum Stephen Hayes (M.F.A., Sculpture, 2010).
“André Leon Talley didn’t just shape fashion — he shaped people,” said Gomes. “His legacy endures not only in garments and publications but in the lives he uplifted, the voices he amplified and the doors he held open for others. This exhibition is our love letter to a legend who carved a place in history with style and conviction.”
The exhibition, which also honors the 10th anniversary of SCAD FASH, is accompanied by a book published by SCAD University Press and Rizzoli. The book of the same name brings to life Talley’s impact on global culture, with a foreword from Paula Wallace, president and founder of SCAD. Other contributors include Teri Agins, Jonathan Becker, Robert Fairer, Tom Ford, Rafael Brauer Gomes, Antoine Gregory, Diane von Furstenberg, Darren Walker and Anna Wintour.
Notably, Talley made a career for himself in fashion journalism at WWD when he joined in 1975. He established a name for himself on the fashion scene as WWD’s Paris fashion editor, with the praise of John B. Fairchild in his back pocket. He lived in France from 1978 to 1980 — where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Paloma Picasso, Stephen Burrows and von Furstenberg.
Later, Talley joined Vogue as its creative director and editor-at-large. He was a trailblazer in his own right, as one of the first Black fashion journalists. His commanding presence also helped changed the perception of who is welcome in the world of high fashion and its upper echelons.
Wallace said it was Talley’s wish for his collection of personal objects and artifacts to be on display and live on at SCAD, to the benefit of its students — owing to the enduring decades-long friendship between Talley and SCAD.
“Many know of his legendary, picaresque career with Diana Vreeland at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, Andy Warhol at The Factory, Anna Wintour at Vogue, the New York days and Paris nights, turning heads in his caftan and bejeweled turban, his gift for language, his long reign as fashion’s kingmaker, his columns and covers that altered cultural history. For me, André was much more: a treasured friend and ally who profoundly shaped the Savannah College of Art and Design,” said Wallace.
The “André Leon Talley: Style Is Forever” exhibition is now on display in Atlanta and will travel to SCAD FASH’s Lacoste campus in spring 2026 and the “André Leon Talley: Style Is Forever” Rizzoli book is available for purchase at shopSCAD.com.
Paula Wallace on Her Friendship with André Leon Talley
as told to Fairchild Studio
Wallace’s Personal Relationship with André
We shared our Southern heritage — both of us were brought up by strong women who championed education and were raised in church communities, where the sanctuary aisle could be a runway. Ladies always wore hats; millinery in the South was considered a woman’s crowning glory. You choose a pew ahead of a high coif and wide brim, rather than behind one.
André spoke of how, in church as a boy, he first saw the metaphysical power of fashion. André possessed the soul of an evangelist and the vocabulary of a poet — generous, theatrical and erudite.
His character shone through in every word he wrote and uttered.
I have all of our correspondence across the years. He wrote personal letters with language as vivid as anything in his columns — writing of wounds, loves and passions. We spoke of our Southern childhoods, eating fresh vegetables from the kitchen garden, long afternoons reading under a favorite tree and helping our mothers and grandmothers with chores. He said that his definition of luxury was “crisp white sheets hanging on the line.”
We were both outsiders in our chosen professions. As an entrepreneur and university founder and president, I was ignored in the early days, brushed aside and underestimated. He felt much
the same as a Black man in fashion, a subject he wrote about in his memoir, “The Chiffon Trenches.”
As outsiders, we both had to fight battles that others didn’t have to fight. We loved to swap war stories long into the night. Those evenings together — discussing film, fashion, history and education — were magical. He was like family.
André’s Connection to SCAD and Impact on Students
André was an expert-in-residence at SCAD, always on campus, always holding court, every moment a master class with SCAD students. He was so gracious and patient with their questions, thoughtfully offering career advice, taking selfies and matchmaking students with ateliers and designers where he saw their future.
He delighted in every student encounter. He shared his breadth of knowledge democratically across majors of fashion, writing, photography, graphic design, accessory design, furniture design, jewelry and art history. He adored our Bees and curated exhibitions by coaxing greatness, championing their visions over the course of two decades.
His love for our university community led to his longtime service on the SCAD Board of Trustees (2002-2014). Through his encouragement, the SCAD Costume Collection received memorable gifts from Anna Wintour, Pat Altschul and others.
He introduced SCAD to writers like Robin Givhan, Maureen Dowd and Darren Walker at the Ford Foundation, who funded a SCAD Museum of Art exhibition featuring the work of Alfredo Jaar. André summoned so many luminaries to SCAD. Tom Ford, Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta, Manolo Blahnik, Marc Jacobs and Miuccia Prada — all of whom fell as much in love with SCAD students as he had.
He was a true creative partner. We created books together (including “Little Black Dress,” a perennial favorite), countless exhibitions and films, like our animated documentary, “Pierre Cardin: Le Futur” and “Ovation for Oscar,” a tribute to Oscar de la Renta starring André and SCAD students as they prepared an exhibition honoring the designer’s life and legacy. André, ever the ingenious creative director, always found a way to make beautiful things happen.
Honoring André’s Legacy with the New “Style is Forever” Exhibition and Book
One of the great joys of his life was our creation of the André Leon Talley gallery together at the SCAD Museum of Art — he called it his “wing” of the museum — where we curated shows of Vivienne Westwood, Oscar de la Renta and many others. André loved dressing to the nines on campus with his custom suits, capes, brooches and turbans.
When our Bees remarked with awe and curiosity about his wardrobe, André said, “I always bring the jewels out of the vault for SCAD!” I suggested we create an exhibition of everything from his closet. He agreed it would be fun and would benefit the students to see and study these clothes and accessories up close — “But only after I’m gone.”
His clothes were intensely personal to him. André called his wardrobe his armor, his tabernacle and his sanctuary. This very first posthumous exhibition brings André’s divine wonder into luminous focus and ensures his eternal influence remains with SCAD forevermore.
At the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, guests encounter 24 striking looks and a memory lane of cherished personal objects and photographs — sartorial gems and personal objects, each steeped in stories from his colorful life.
In Atlanta, the SCAD FASH exhibition features some 75 looks, including ephemera from André’s home and rare archival photographs — arranged in a triptych of time and tone of red, white and black. These galleries trace his evolution from Sunday best to front-row splendor.
I hope students and guests will see and know the André I knew — a man of multitudes, with a curiosity and mind as wide as the Southern sky, humble, vulnerable, a polymathic prophet of fashion and culture and literature, from major editor to television personality to SCAD professor ex officio. He treated SCAD students like royalty and made them each feel seen. The caftans and capes of these twin exhibitions will dazzle and rightly so — but I hope audiences see the soul behind them: a man who loved, taught, laughed and lived with uncommon elegance.
Special thanks to Tonya Blazio-Licorish, archives editor at WWD, for archive research and imagery.