The Collection of André Leon Talley
At Christie’s Rockefeller Center, in the heart of Manhattan, the live sale of The Collection of André Leon Talley achieved phenomenal results. The sale attracted lively bidding from around the globe, making $1,387,827 with 100% of the lots sold and realizing 343% hammer above the low estimate. The online portion of the sale closed on February 16th. In the live auction, 30% of bidders were new to Christie’s, over 40% of new registered bidders were Millennials. This legendary sale generated strong results across a wide variety of collecting categories, including photography, illustrations, accessories, and clothing. Proceeds of the sale will go toward the Abyssinian Baptist Church in the City of New York and the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Durham.
Mr. Talley’s ready-to-wear collection took center stage in the sale: A Navy Wool Deconstructed Greatcoat by Christian Dior achieved $40,320 against its low estimate of $1,000. A Brick Red ‘Sleeping Bag” Clutch Coat from Norma Kamali sold for $25,200, 50 times its low estimate of $500.
Additional highlights included two illustrations by Karl Lagerfeld portraying Mr. Talley, each of which carried a low estimate of $800 and sold for $32,760. Andy Warhol’s painting Diana Vreeland Rampant (after Jacques Louis David, Napoleon at St. Bernard) sold for 94,500 and was acquired by the Mint Museum of North Carolina.
Elizabeth Seigel, Christie’s Head of Private and Iconic Collections, says “Christie’s is honored that we have been entrusted with ‘The Collection of Andre Leon Talley’-a trailblazer and such an iconic figure. In today’s sale prices soared due to the impeccable provenance of the lots, as people competed to buy Andre Leon Talley’s signature looks, monogrammed bags and luggage and prized possessions, eager for the opportunity to own such personal and iconic pieces from his collection. These lots are part of fashion history, and all proceeds go to benefit the churches close to his heart”.
André Leon Talley was born in 1948 and raised by his grandmother in North Carolina during Jim Crow. He studied French at North Carolina Central University and received a master’s in French literature from Brown University. Mr. Talley began his career working for Diana Vreeland at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and went on to work for Interview Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, The New York Times, and, finally, Vogue. There, he served as fashion news director turned creative director and ultimately editor-at-large, working side-by-side with legendary editor Anna Wintour for decades. Talley passed away on January 18th, 2022, at 73.