André Leon Talley’s possessions fetch about $3.6 million at auction
Over a hundred items from late fashion icon André Leon Talley’s possessions were sold for $3.55 million at an auction, including paintings, personal photographs and his signature capes, CNN reported on Friday.
A bunch of the late editor’s belongings were auctioned at auction house, Christie’s in New York on February 15, sold for about $1.4 million then other 350 were sold online.
Talley owned a vast fashion collection with garments on sale ranging from Tom Ford kimonos to a selection of Prada crocodile coats.
He also owned a Christian Dior greatcoat, which was sold for $40,320 and a silk satin Climate Revolution cloak by the late Vivienne Westwood sold for $32,760.
“The collection was a testament to his impeccable taste,” said Christie’s head of private collections, Elizabeth Seigel, in a statement.
The items in the collection also spoke to his deep network of relationships with some of the fashion world’s biggest names like over a dozen sketches and photos by the late Karl Lagerfed.
The collection also included a signed watercolor portrait that Gianni Versace once made of Talley sold for $37,500.
Talley was not only known for his love of fashion, but for his interest in art and culture. Among the auctioned collection was two different Andy Warhol artworks, along with a Louis Vuitton luggage set, shared the title of the auction’s top seller and sold for $94,500.
The valuable items also included a Bradley Theodore portrait of former Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland that sold for over $40,000. Several other photos of Vreeland appeared in the sale, as did an Annie Leibovitz photo of Vogue’s editor in chief, Anna Wintour.
Talley owned a red coat by designer Norma Kamali sold for $25,200, which is over its initial estimate of $500 to $800. The iconic piece received recent renewed attention when Rihanna appeared in a notably similar puffer jacket, by Alaïa, for her Super Bowl performance.
Proceeds from the sale will go directly to two churches that were close to Talley’s heart; the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York and the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, said the auction house.
André Leon Talley, who was Vogue magazine’s longtime creative director, died last year at age 73.
