The death of André Leon Talley at age 73 is sending shockwaves through the fashion industry.
The former creative director of Vogue, Talley was beloved for his idiosyncratic personality and encyclopedic sartorial knowledge, assets that cemented him as a fashion icon in his own right.
Talley, who grew up in the Jim Crow South, rose to the highest ranks of a largely white — and elitist — fashion landscape, staring out as an apprentice for Diana Vreeland and going on to work for Interview, Women's Wear Daily, W, and the New York Times.
He eventually landed a role as Vogue's Fashion News Director, and was later named the magazine's first Black male creative director in 1988. He returned to the publication in 1998 to serve as editor-at-large, departing in 2013.
Beyond print, Talley was a judge on America's Next Top Model, starred in 2016 documentary The Gospel According to André, and penned two memoirs, most recently The Chiffon Trenches, chronicling his tenuous relationship with Vogue's longtime editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Talley's colleagues, friends, and fans are taking to social media with an outpouring of tributes for the larger-than-life journalist.
"Without you, there would be no me," wrote Edward Enninful, the first Black editor to helm British Vogue as editor-in-chief. "Thank you for paving the way."
Pierre M'Pelé (AKA Pam Boy), head of editorial content at GQ France, penned: "Andre Leon Talley walked ever so fiercely so that many of us could run."
Via Vogue's official Instagram, Wintour reacted to her former colleague's passing.
"He was magnificent and erudite and wickedly funny -- mercurial, too," she wrote. "Like many decades-long relationships, there were complicated moments, but all I want to remember today, all I care about, is the brilliant and compassionate man who was a generous and loving friend to me and to my family for many, many years, and who we will all miss so much."
On Twitter, fans are sharing screenshots and videos immortalizing Talley's bold proclamations on style, most notably, an epic quote from The September Issue: "It's a famine of beauty, honey! My eyes are starving for beauty!"
