André Leon Talley: Style Is Forever — A Celebration of a Fashion Icon

André Leon Talley was a singular presence in fashion: part editor, part cultural historian, part showman. He approached style as a language and a form of storytelling. From his beginnings in Durham, North Carolina, to the runways and gala halls of Paris and New York, Talley made an indelible mark on the way fashion engages with identity, power, and artistry.

This spring, André Leon Talley: Style Is Forever travels to SCAD FASH Lacoste, bringing his private wardrobe, personal objects, and curated mementoes to France after its original presentations in Savannah and Atlanta. The exhibition is an opportunity to step into a world Talley described as his "Zen zone of divine wonder," where his garments — what he often called his armour — intersected with his encyclopedic understanding of fashion history.

Curated by Rafael Brauer Gomes, the presentation features couture and bespoke pieces from designers Talley championed and befriended over decades: Tom Ford for Gucci, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Gianni Versace, Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga, John Galliano for Dior, and Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy. These names are more than labels in an archive — they represent friendships, creative alliances, and moments of mutual recognition. Each piece was part of a conversation Talley carried with the designers he loved, documenting both their craft and his own evolving eye.

The garments are displayed on custom mannequins cast from a sculpture of Talley by SCAD alum Stephen Hayes, giving the exhibition an intimate, almost theatrical dimension — as though the man himself hasn't entirely left the room.

André Leon Talley: Style Is Forever allows audiences to inhabit a world curated with intelligence, wit, and unapologetic flair.