Book Club: The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir
3 min read
By André Leon Talley
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the pages of Vogue to the runways of Paris, this “captivating” (Time) memoir by a legendary style icon captures the fashion world from the inside out, in its most glamorous and most cutthroat moments.
“The Chiffon Trenches honestly and candidly captures fifty sublime years of fashion.”—Manolo Blahnik
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Fortune • Garden & Gun • New York Post
During André Leon Talley’s first magazine job, alongside Andy Warhol at Interview, a fateful meeting with Karl Lagerfeld began a decades-long friendship with the enigmatic, often caustic designer. Propelled into the upper echelons by his knowledge and adoration of fashion, André moved to Paris as bureau chief of John Fairchild’s Women’s Wear Daily, befriending fashion’s most important designers (Halston, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta). But as André made friends, he also made enemies. A racially tinged encounter with a member of the house of Yves Saint Laurent sent him back to New York and into the offices of Vogue under Grace Mirabella.
There, he eventually became creative director, developing an unlikely but intimate friendship with Anna Wintour. As she rose to the top of Vogue’s masthead, André also ascended, and soon became the most influential man in fashion.
The Chiffon Trenches offers a candid look at the who’s who of the last fifty years of fashion. At once ruthless and empathetic, this engaging memoir tells with raw honesty the story of how André not only survived the brutal style landscape but thrived—despite racism, illicit rumors, and all the other challenges of this notoriously cutthroat industry—to become one of the most renowned voices and faces in fashion.
Woven throughout the book are also André’s own personal struggles that impacted him over the decades, along with intimate stories of those he turned to for inspiration (Diana Vreeland, Diane von Fürstenberg, Lee Radziwill, to name a few), and of course his Southern roots and faith, which guided him since childhood.
The result is a highly compelling read that captures the essence of a world few of us will ever have real access to, but one that we all want to know oh so much more about.

André Leon Talley (1948–2022) was a trailblazing fashion journalist, editor, and cultural icon. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Durham, North Carolina, he developed a love for fashion early on, influenced by his grandmother and the church community.
Talley earned a master’s degree in French literature from Brown University before stepping into the fashion world, working with Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, and W Magazine. He later became the first Black creative director at Vogue in the 1980s, breaking barriers and shaping the industry with his keen eye for style and historical perspective.
Known for his dramatic capes, larger-than-life personality, and deep knowledge of fashion history, Talley was a close confidant of designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent. His 2020 memoir, The Chiffon Trenches, detailed his rise in the industry, challenges with racism, and relationships with fashion’s elite.
A passionate advocate for diversity in fashion, Talley’s influence extended beyond the page, mentoring young designers and championing inclusivity. His legacy remains as a visionary who redefined fashion journalism and paved the way for future generations.