Book Review: "The Chiffon Trenches" by André Leon Talley
“The Chiffon Trenches” by André Leon Talley
Bookshop | Amazon
Publisher Synopsis: During André Leon Talley's first magazine job, alongside Andy Warhol at Interview, a fateful meeting with Karl Lagerfeld began a decades-long friendship with the enigmatic, often caustic designer. Propelled into the upper echelons by his knowledge and adoration of fashion, André moved to Paris as bureau chief of John Fairchild's Women's Wear Daily, befriending fashion's most important designers (Halston, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta). But as André made friends, he also made enemies. A racially tinged encounter with a member of the house of Yves Saint Laurent sent him back to New York and into the offices of Vogue under Grace Mirabella.
There, he eventually became creative director, developing an unlikely but intimate friendship with Anna Wintour. As she rose to the top of Vogue's masthead, André also ascended, and soon became the most influential man in fashion.
The Chiffon Trenches offers a candid look at the who's who of the last fifty years of fashion. At once ruthless and empathetic, this engaging memoir tells with raw honesty the story of how André not only survived the brutal style landscape but thrived--despite racism, illicit rumors, and all the other challenges of this notoriously cutthroat industry--to become one of the most renowned voices and faces in fashion.
Woven throughout the book are also André's own personal struggles that have impacted him over the decades, along with intimate stories of those he has turned to for inspiration (Diana Vreeland, Diane von Fürstenberg, Lee Radziwill, to name a few), and of course his Southern roots and ongoing faith, which have guided him since childhood.
The result is a highly compelling read that captures the essence of a world few of us will ever have real access to, but one that we all want to know oh so much more about.
Trigger Warnings: sexual abuse, binge eating disorder, fat-phobic comments
Rating (out of 5): 4
Review: It’s an interesting time to be writing this review, as Harper’s Bazaar just named its first Black editor-in-chief and Anna Wintour is coming under fire for her ridiculous “apology” to Vogue staffers (Talley’s response: “she’s a colonial dame.”)
That said, no matter what social justice movement is currently underway, the fact is that André Leon Talley, a Black gay man, was one of the most prominent men in fashion through much of the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s. And a Black gay man at that.
His latest memoir is at time fluffy, and full of name-dropping. I mean, the man was friends with Lee Radziwill (who he claims was the real fashion icon of the Bouvier sisters), Diane von Furstenburg, and Karl Lagerfeld. There’s bound to be name-dropping. While that got a bit exhausting at times, I found his friendship with Lagerfeld fascinating. There are plenty of anecdotes about the legendary designer’s eccentricities and fashion genius, and many about how callous he could be toward rivals or former friends.
As a young boy growing up in Durham, North Carolina, Talley’s favorite place was the library, where he discovered fashion magazines, including Vogue. After attending Brown, he moved to New York and began working for Women’s Wear Daily, followed by Andy Warhol’s Interview, then moved to Paris with WWD. Talley’s fashion knowledge is encyclopedic. I often found myself googling the shows he referenced to see the clothes and styling. What also struck me is Talley’s (correct) assertion that Anna Wintour is not steeped in the history of fashion. She is an editor, a businesswoman. She hired fashion editors (including Talley and Grace Coddington), who knew the history of fashion, its references and nuances and who could not just identify, but also create trends.
But, the real impact of this book comes when Talley writes about his Blackness, and how he occupied this predominantly white space. In the introduction, he writes about Beyoncé’s Vogue cover, for which she chose a Black photographer. As widely reported, Tyler Mitchell was the first Black man to shoot a Vogue cover image in the magazine’s 125-year history. (That it took so long is perhaps one of the things Anna Wintour should apologize for.)
Talley writes, “For so long I was the only person of color in the upper echelons of fashion journalism, but I was too busy pushing forward, making it to the next day, to really think about the responsibility that came with this role.”
He certainly experienced his share of racism: he was accused of sleeping with all the designers, and at one point that cost him his WWD post in Paris. A mother investigated him before her daughter interned for him.
It’s easy to point out that Talley did not necessarily open the door to fashion for other Black men and women. But, when you are the first, there is likely a level of assimilation that you have to undergo. While Talley writes that his Blackness was apparent in everything he did, it’s understandable if he didn’t want to be the only Black person talking only about Black topics.
Talley writes,
My way of approaching diversity in the world of fashion was to communicate with the power of suggestion. I would not go up to Karl Lagerfeld and say, ‘Where are the black models on your runway?’ Instead, if I didn’t see a moment of diversity, I would sit next to him and recommend girls who were missing. “What about Naomi Campbell, wouldn’t she look great in that suit?’ I never demanded representation and diversity of models; I finessed.
While some parts of this memoir felt a bit surface-level, reading this memoir at this point in time is important. Talley’s influence on fashion in the last decades of the twentieth century cannot be overstated, and his experience as the most high-ranking Black man in fashion offers a unique viewpoint into these golden years of fashion journalism. And, he writes with humility about meeting young Black male editors now, who wear high heels and express themselves in a way that Talley, with his enviable collection of designer caftans, could not.
(And lest this review drag on, there are also ruminations on his binge eating, childhood sexual assault, and faith. This is well worth reading!)
TL;DR: An extremely prescient memoir from one of the most prominent Black men in fashion. Come for the anecdotes about Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour (among others); stay for the reflections on being Black in a white, elite industry.
If you liked this, try:
“Save Me the Plums” by Ruch Reichl (Bookshop | Amazon) (my review here)
“Thick: And Other Essays” by Tressie McMillan Cottom (Bookshop | Amazon)
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