@blissfoster

Andre Leon Talley passed this evening. For as long as I’ve wanted to be a fashion critic, Andre has been one of my biggest inspirations. Throughout his life as a critic, Andre helped guide the culture towards beautiful work. But while many of us can only recognize beauty, Andre helped us *understand* beauty; he was a human encyclopedia of fashion. Andre kept a tape recorder with him while watching shows to narrate his notes. Most critics need time to research runway references, but Andre just knew them off rip. The full story of fashion was inside him. Our world of fashion is very small and we keep losing our greats. Alber Elbaz last year, Virgil last month, we lost Nino Cerruti a couple days ago, and now Andre. As much as you can, please find a way to reach out to creators you love and tell them. Be specific, tell them how their work has touched you. Let’s not wait until we have to write a goodbye post. Let them know now. I wish I had done that for Andre. I aspire to be half as good at this work as he was.