It has been a year since the loss of Vogue's former creative director, André Leon Talley, that tall, majestically dressed man wearing theatrical caftans. His Collection will be sold at Christie's New York on February 15th and two online sales ending on February 16th and 17th. Proceeds are expected to reach $1 million, with proceeds benefiting Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York's Harlem neighborhood and Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, both majority-black churches. Talley, who admired the communal virtues of black churches, attended both throughout his life.

It has been a year since the loss of Vogue's former creative director, André Leon Talley, that tall, majestically dressed man wearing theatrical caftans. His Collection will be sold at Christie's New York on February 15th and two online sales ending on February 16th and 17th

The catalogue manages to perfectly portray the journey of Vogue's first black creative director, who claimed not to be a slave to fashion, but a guardian and curator of it. In total, the auction includes 448 lots. According to Christie's, this sum represents just over half of the possessions recovered from Talley's house and catalogued. "He was very generous and also donated some things to the Savannah College of Art and Design and some friends," says Bonnie Brennan, president of Christie's America. 

"He was very generous and also donated some things to the Savannah College of Art and Design and some friends," says Bonnie Brennan, president of Christie's America.

The auction will feature among other things designer items including wardrobe boots, dressing gowns and sunglasses from designer labels such as Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Plus three Andy Warhol silkscreen prints, each valued at between $15,000 and $20,000. One includes an image of Diana Vreeland, Talley's mentor and former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Alongside the Warhol's are three tri-colour collages of silhouetted busts by Yves Saint Laurent, a dressing gown by Vivienne Westwood and sketches by Karl Lagerfeld. These objects reflect Talley's uniquely broad and expansive life and the frequency with which he crossed paths with other renowned creatives.

These objects reflect Talley's uniquely broad and expansive life and the frequency with which he crossed paths with other renowned creatives.

Talley always dreamed of having a legacy, and so he acquired all sorts of things, or so he told his friends. But we're not just talking about luxuries - the auction will also feature some of the journalist's most personal and meaningful items, such as a pair of L.L.Bean bags embroidered with Talley's initials and the Vogue logo, a staple among the magazine's editors.  "Objects of more modest value are equally if not more representative and revealing about who André was than some of the most valuable items in the auction," says Brennan. "We want to make sure we honour the entire legacy of André Leon Talley with our buyer base." 

"We want to make sure we honour the entire legacy of André Leon Talley with our buyer base."