Six lessons from André Leon Talley on building a life in fashion

Ahead of our upcoming Virtual Book Club meeting on his biography, we take a look at some of the enduring lessons from ALT’s legendary career.

There are very few figures in fashion whose perspective feels worth studying in detail. André Leon Talley is one of them.

Across decades, he shaped the industry from the inside out – writing and editing at Interview Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, W Magazine and Vanity Fair, before becoming the first Black creative director at Vogue under Anna Wintour. He wasn’t just alive and working through fashion history; he helped define how it was written, remembered and understood.

But what makes Talley an essential figure in fashion is how he moved through those spaces. A trailblazer and a pure original, he built a career in an industry that often excluded him, without diluting who he was to fit it. By all accounts, he was also deeply generous: someone who championed young talent, supported designers, and understood fashion not just as spectacle, but as a cultural record worth preserving.

That’s what makes The Chiffon Trenches, his 2020 autobiography, such a valuable read. The memoir charts his journey from the segregated American South to the highest levels of fashion media, while offering a clear-eyed account of the hierarchies, hypocrisies and power structures that shaped his path. It’s both a love letter to fashion and a critique of the systems that rule it, written by someone who experienced both fully. We’ve chosen it as our next BRICKS Virtual Book Club (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) pick because it opens up the kind of conversation we want to be having about the fashion industry: how it works, who it rewards, and what it takes to last within it.

We’ll be meeting on Sunday 3rd May at 7pm BST (the evening before this year’s Met Gala) for a live Zoom discussion, joined by critics Chani Ra aka The Fashion Nap and Anastasia Vartanian aka FatAnnaWintour, who will bring their perspectives on Talley’s legacy, fashion criticism, and the evolving politics of the industry. There’ll also be space for open discussion, whether you’ve read every page or are simply curious about his impact.

You don’t need to finish the book to join – and if you’re short on time this week, the audiobook (narrated by Talley) clocks in at just under nine hours, and is genuinely worth a listen for the added context in his voice.

Tickets are just £5 via Eventbrite, or access is free for paid Learner Platform members (you can find your discount code here (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)).