“André Changed The World”: Inside André Leon Talley’s Moving & Joyful Memorial Service In Harlem

In life, André Leon Talley was a towering figure, famous for what he knew – and how he spoke – about culture and style; for the elegant circles that he ran in; and for the way that he carried himself in an industry where few people looked like him. Yet as a memorial for the late Vogue editor made clear on Friday, Talley was also a humble man, a generous man, and a man of deep and resounding faith. (He was, after all, a Southerner, brought up in Durham, North Carolina by his devout and beloved grandmother.)

At the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where he was a congregant for decades, legions of Talley’s closest friends, family, and followers gathered both to celebrate his memory and reflect upon his legacy. By turns intensely moving and utterly euphoric, the service made for a suitably special tribute to a very special person. As a statement from Michelle Obama read, “Through his kindness, charm, and electricity, André changed the world.”

The service, overseen by Reverend Calvin O Butts III from a pulpit flooded with flowers by David Monn, wove together readings from scripture, performances by Valerie Simpson and the wonderful Abyssinian Baptist Choir, and heartfelt remarks from Talley’s cousin, Brian Nunn, as well as Marc Jacobs, Anna Wintour, Carolina Herrera, Naomi Campbell, Bethann Hardison, Paula Wallace, and Diane von Furstenberg, among others. (In the audience, meanwhile, were the likes of Edward Enninful, Pat McGrath, Grace Coddington, Hamish Bowles, Kerby Jean-Raymond, Zac Posen, Derek Blasberg, Karlie Kloss, Kimora Lee Simmons, and Gayle King, many of whom could be seen dabbing their eyes or clapping along in jubilation to rousing renditions of “Come Sunday”, “Down by the Riverside”, “Young Gifted and Black”, and one of Talley’s very favourite hymns, “How I Got Over”.)

 

Nunn remembered Talley as a king of cool. Jacobs described his expressive emails, occasionally written in all-caps “as if to shout with emphasis and urgency what must be heard”, and a madcap trip to Moscow with Talley and Campbell. Wintour spoke affectingly of Talley as a close friend and confidant. “Like all of us here today, I felt lucky to consider him part of my family,” she said. “He taught me to speak fearlessly and to see from the heart. I miss him in moments of sadness, but most of all, moments of joy.” Hardison recounted meeting Talley at Andy Warhol’s Factory, where he turned up wearing what looked like an extra-large Eagle Scout uniform, and Herrera called him the “fashion historian of our times”.

Campbell, clad in an exuberant white fur from Schiaparelli, quoted Talley’s assertion that the true meaning of luxury is being able “to take control of one’s life, health, and the pursuit of happiness in a way that is joyful”, adding that by his standards, over-the-top was actually exactly right. Earlier in the week, she and von Furstenberg had visited Talley’s family and childhood friends in North Carolina. “It was touching to see how close you still were with all of them. They told us funny stories about you, and they’re all so proud of following the journey of your life,” von Furstenberg said, addressing Talley. “You spoke perfect French, the language you wanted to learn; you travelled to all the places you wanted to see; you met all the people you wanted to meet; and you became intimate friends with the ones you admired most.”

If there was a common thread in all of those stories – from Talley’s comrades in fashion, as well as from Reverend Butts and other members of the Abyssinian community – it was that André Leon Talley was precisely himself at every moment, whether weighing in on how Bee Carrozzini should wear her hair at the Met Gala, or gifting Deacon Alexis Thomas a Fendi briefcase because it was “more becoming” than the plastic bag she typically carried her church papers in. To know him was to feel his warmth, his curiosity, and his unsparing attention to detail – and to fête him was to promise to somehow pass those virtues on.