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Fashion icon Andre Leon Tally dies

Fashion icon Andre Leon Tally has died at the age of 73.

The former Vogue editor-at-large had been in hospital quietly battling an unknown illness, according to TMZ.

News of his death first broke after fashion designer, Diane von Furstenberg, posted a tribute to Tally.

"Good bye darling André … No one saw the world in a more glamorous way than you did ❤️🙏… no one was grander and more soulful than you were ❤️🙏…the world will be less joyfulI ❤️🙏 I have loved you and laughed with you for 45 years…. I miss your loud screams …I love you soooo much ❤️🙏,” she wrote.

The news was confirmed via Tally’s Instagram account a few hours later.

At the helm of his career, Tally served as a compatriot to Anna Wintour and took the fashion industry by storm in the 1970s and 80s.

He first joined Vogue in 1983 as a news editor and quickly climbed the ranks to creative director and then editor-in-chief - a position which he held for over 10 years.

He left the publication in 1995 when he moved to Paris to work at W magazine. He then returned in 1998 as editor-at-large, and stayed there until his final departure in 2013.

He later released a memoir about his life titled The Chiffon Trenches, in which he chronicles his career journey from the front porch of his grandmother’s house to sitting front row at fashion show’s and cultivating the zeitgeist of the fashion landscape through Vogue.

In it, he reflects on his role as the first black fashion journalist to have such an impactful contribution on the industry.

"There was no higher accolade she could give me, as the masthead portrayed. Anna Wintour made me the highest-ranking black man in the history of fashion journalism,” he wrote.

He also details his interactions with Yves Saint Laurent, Madonna, Princess Diana, Karl Lagerfeld, and others. His 30-year friendship with Anna Wintour is also a focal point in the memoir, in which he opens up about their deteriorating relationship towards the end of his career.

Tally will be remembered as a towering icon in the fashion industry, for his historical knowledge on couture and his visionary fashion contributions for over 40 years.

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