CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the fashion and entertainment world mourn internationally renowned fashion journalist André Leon Talley, who died Jan. 18, those who knew him in his hometown of Durham remember him for his unapologetic fashion style and confidence.
As a global fashion icon, Talley was a French-speaking 6’6” Black man from the Jim Crow South who wore custom caftans and extravagant capes. As a creative director and editor-at-large at Vogue magazine, he was always spotted in the front row of fashion shows, the rare Black man in a predominantly white industry.
But to many who knew him during his formative years in Durham, he had always been an outlier.
