*On the Thursday, May 21st edition of “Tamron Hall,” André Leon Talley discussed his new book The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir, the recent controversy surrounding Anna Wintour’s inclusion in the book and the interpretation that the Vogue editor-in-chief “made” his career a success. Talley also addressed questions about his personal life including rumors of a romantic relationship with Karl Lagerfeld, former creative director for Chanel who passed away last year.
During their conversation, Tamron asked Talley, “Was that the intention of the book, to set the record straight that your career was not made by Anna Wintour? …Some people say you went after her. Why?” Talley responded, “I didn’t go after Anna Wintour. This is in ways a lot better to Anna Wintour. It is my respect out of our kinship and our thirty years of friendship. Of course there were things that happened to me later, in the last two or three years, that I felt were very not correct, but in many ways I owe to her my world of Vogue, I owe to her many, many important segments of my life. But first of all, let me say, Anna Wintour did not make me, I made myself…I became André Leon Talley from my childhood, growing up in my grandmother’s home, growing up in the church, in the black Missionary Baptist Church.”
In his book, Talley writes, ‘None of my contemporaries have seen the world through black eyes.’ Tamron asked Talley if he was referring to his contemporaries at Vogue. Talley answered, “I meant that the Vogue institution as – the moment of blackness was, as I represented it, I was certainly included in conversations – there were conversations about diversity in the photos and articles. But Vogue respected the idea of diversity, all aspects and rainbows and reputation. But at the same time, they do not see the world through my eyes, through my environment, how my childhood upbringing affected my references and my points of view in my life.”
Watch the clip below:
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