ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
A N D R É TA L L E Y ’70
DURHAM’S NATIVE SON OF I T ’ S A S AT U R DAY I N F E B RUA RY 2 0 1 8 and the air feels damp as a crowd gathers outside the auditorium of Durham’s historic Hillside High School. We enter a choral classroom to await our subject, André Leon Talley, a native son of Durham. A few minutes early, the international fashion icon enters the room wearing a black velvet Moroccan hood with braided detail, a Scottish Glengarry hat and a navy-blue tunic from Ethiopia, obviously custom-made for his 6-foot, 6-inch stature. His voice is sincere as he speaks graciously to everyone in the room. Talley glances at the original artwork on the wall and sees a reference to famed singer-songwriter Nina Simone, another North Carolina native. “Nina Simone was very bold in her music and in her personal style,” Talley comments. “I drew inspiration from her and many others.” Talley, 69, is back in Durham for Hillside’s Legacy Alumni Weekend. Introductions made, we sit down to take in the thoughts of a man who is recognized on the streets of Paris and New York, as well as in his own hometown. Talley recalls finding fashion inspiration everywhere as a child – in history, nature, paintings, books, films, travel and other forms of beauty. Despite the racial tensions and limitations of the segregated South in the 1950s and 60s, Talley saw glimmers of hope in his surroundings. Raised from an early age by his grandmother, Bennie Frances Davis, a domestic worker in Durham, the future designer frequently attended church. He recalls having his inventiveness and imagination jolted as he examined the stylish dresses, coats, hats, furs, high heels, suits and other intricate details of the women’s ensembles. “Everyone always dressed in their best on Sundays; this was the moment I fell in love with fashion,” Talley says. In his adolescence, Talley sought out fashion literature such as Vogue magazine and couture memoirs to quench his fashion appetite. He would often walk through Duke University’s campus to a newsstand where he could pick up the latest edition of Vogue and escape into the fashion world.
g
FA S H I O N
TALLEY RECALLS FINDING
FASHION INSPIRATION
EVERY-
WHERE AS A CHILD – IN HISTORY, NATURE, PAINTINGS, BOOKS, FILMS, TRAVEL AND OTHER FORMS OF BEAUTY. DESPITE THE RACIAL TENSIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE SEGREGATED SOUTH IN THE 1950s AND ’60s, TALLEY SAW GLIMMERS OF HOPE IN HIS SURROUNDINGS.
André Leon Talley in THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo Credit: ©Colin Gray. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 45