“André rolled his eyes, he raised his eyebrows as he glamorously dwarfed the miserable, tiny fiberglass chair with his brown velour tracksuit dripping in Louis Vuitton monogram mink, as the customs officer looked at him and said, ‘ Nyet.’” Jacobs continued, “I have many, many cherished moments with André, like a trip to Moscow, when he got detained at customs following Naomi’s advice” - he paused to look at Campbell, who was decked out in ivory - “that a visa was not required.” Jacobs said he has letters and post-show notes from Talley that go back decades. With the invention of email, Jacobs noted, “André found his own boisterous expression with his use of font, styling, color, scale and such.” There was always an emphasis and urgency, he added, about what must be heard. The laughter across the church suggested that many had received his missives. Inevitably, someone would have to mention Talley’s over-the-top mode of self-expression, which included personal notes and faxes in gigantic type - and Jacobs did. I could never have imagined that such a pillar of the fashion world would one day become a dear, loyal, and caring friend to me.” He was so chic and sure, important, special, and unique. That photograph left an indelible impression on me. “He was dressed in a jaunty fedora with a striped shirt, his sleeves rolled up … and slung across his chest was this incredible Elsa Peretti belt, while his hand held the switch of a huge fan. “I was 13 years old when I first discovered the revelatory image of André Leon Talley in a 1976 issue of Interview magazine,” Jacobs began, his voice often breaking. Among those present were Zac Posen, Ralph Rucci, Norma Kamali, Sandra Bernhard, Amanda Harlech, Veronica Webb, Kimora Lee, Candy Pratts Price, Hamilton South, Hamish Bowles, Grace Coddington, Elizabeth Saltzman, Paul Wilmot, Rachel Feinstein, Bob Colacello, Sam Shahid, Edward Enninful, Pat McGrath, and Bethann Hardison, who spoke. Talley apparently did not want a memorial service, but given his high standards, his love of pomp and glamour, and his sense of humor as well as soul, he surely would have been pleased with both the handling of his life story and the turnout. They sang not only hymns and spirituals, including “Down by the Riverside,” but also pop standards, including “What’s Going On” and “Reach Out and Touch Somebody.” They ended with “Amazing Grace.” The flowers virtually framed the Abyssinian Baptist choir, who were some 40 strong and magnificent. The sanctuary blazed with white flowers - two huge urns of flowering branches, a thick bank of fully flushed peonies, and stalks of delphinium. “But today I think we run rival to that with this display of flowers, which is fitting for the opulence and often arrogance of life,” the pastor said. Near the end of the two-and-a half-hour service, Butts recalled a photo of the sanctuary taken at the lavish funeral of Adam Clayton Powell Sr.’s daughter, Blanche. Butts, III, said, Talley could be ostentatious but he was also humble and quiet. The tributes certainly gave a sense of the wingspan of Talley’s life, indeed the complexity of his character.
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