R.I.P: Viola Davis, Angela Simmons & More React To André Leon Talley Death

Celebrities across all different pockets of the entertainment industry are mourning the loss of an iconic figure.

Source: Kevin Mazur/MG18 / Getty

On Tuesday, January 18, former Vogue creative director André Leon Talley died at the age of 73. TMZ reported the news, revealing he had been in the hospital battling an unknown illness prior to his passing.

Of course, André Leon Talley is best known as a trailblazer in the fashion world, not only for his fashion sense but for his push to include more Black and other POC models on the runway. Still, his loss is felt across the world not just for his contributions to fashion, but for his energetic, one-of-a-kind personality.

After some delay and as social media went into an uproar, Vogue published an obituary to the man they called “The “pharaoh of fabulosity” Wednesday morning. Noting that his enthusiasm was “prodigious”, Vogue added that he was also the fashion industry’s “biggest champion and booster” and the first editor backstage, who was “quick with encouraging advice or a course correction.”

In a statement published by Vogue, the publication’s famed Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour whose friendship with the icon was openly and admittedly strained wrote that Talley’s loss was being felt across the fashion world…

“The loss of Andre is felt by so many of us today: the designers he enthusiastically cheered on every season, and who loved him for it; the generations he inspired to work in the industry, seeing a figure who broke boundaries while never forgetting where he started from; those who knew fashion, and Vogue, simply because of him; and, not forgetting, the multitude of colleagues over the years who were consistently buoyed by every new discovery of Andre’s, which he would discuss loudly, and volubly — no one could make people more excited about the most seemingly insignificant fashion details than him.

and noted that for her, the loss is “immeasurable.”

“Even his stream of colorful faxes and emails were a highly anticipated event, something we all looked forward to. Yet it’s the loss of Andre as my colleague and friend that I think of now; it’s immeasurable. He was magnificent and erudite and wickedly funny — mercurial, too. 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.”

Source: Patrick McMullan / Getty

R.I.P. André Leon Talley.

Diane von Fürstenberg mourned Talley on Instagram, posting an old photo of the icon.