André & Aimée

This week I had a rare moment to go the movies to see The Gospel According to André at the Zeitgeist Theater with a dear friend.  André Leon Talley, in my eyes, is an icon of fashion, a unique voice, and has an unduplicated and unapologetic sense of style. Many moons ago in a very naive and green stage of my life I had the opportunity to listen and briefly converse with Andre Léon Tally at Yale University. (To clarify I did not go to Yale, but fell in love with someone that did. I was shady and snuck into seminars and classes. I was enrolled in evening classes at FIT in NYC at the time.)

Prior to meeting André, I collected every issue Vogue. I purchased two of each issue, one to cut up and highlight the fancy words and one to put away to preserve. I read them from cover to cover holding on to every word Anna, Grace, and Hamish would write. Fashion then was a magical world and these brilliant outspoken minds were my idols.

The picture was taken after a seminar on a Nikon Digital camera in my probably too tight Marc Jacobs jacket with an overzealous very round sweaty face. I had just finished asking him about the staying power of Fashion’s ‘It’ Boy at the time Zac Posen (whom I also met a few years later) and “if his talent would match up to the editor’s hype.” André autographed my September Issue of my then bible, wished me luck, and complimented my jacket. I still get giddy every time I think of that day.

The Gospel According to André Trailer: