The Gospel According to André | Luna CInemas | From 19th July | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“I don’t live for fashion, I live for beauty and style.” says fashion guru André Leon Talley in the opening moments of Kate Novack’s documentary that charts the life of one of Vogue magazine’s most well known faces.
Recent years have brought us a string of insights into the world of fashion from The September Issue to Bill Cunningham New York and Diana Vreeland – The Eye Must Travel. Not to mention behind the scenes TV series that have explored the fashion world and best selling memoirs by notable editors including Grace Coddington.
With this documentary we get to revisit that world, this time through the journey of André Leon Talley. The outrageous kaftan wearing fashion reporter who squawks with excitement at the sight of an impeccably dressed woman or the unveiling of the latest creation from a top designer.
Talley is one of those people who you immediately have a bucket load of assumptions about, he’s loud, camp, fashion obsessed and opinionated. This film shows us that he is all of those things and so much more.
Sitting on the porch of his large house in White Plains, Westchester country in New York Talley shouts at tree surgeons removing a large tree from his garden “Watch the shrub!” Talley hollers at the workmen as tree limbs come crashing down.
Later a childhood friend recounts how Talley’s grandmother could shout so loud you could hear her two blocks away “Andreeeee Leeeeeon Talleeeeeeeeey!” It’s clear that Talley’s upbringing in Durham, North Carolina remains with him to this day.
The film charts Talley from his childhood where he admired the weekly fashion parade of everyone wearing their ‘Sunday Best’ to church, a time he describes as when women had many different hats to show off.
He recalls his early love of Vogue magazine and the french cooking lessons of TV chef Julia Child. He studied French at school, excelling in the subject – but also faced the realities of harsh racism in the USA’s segregated south.
His success in learning French got him a place at University, and a scholarship allowed him to study for his master’s degree at Brown University. From here he made the move to New York and volunteered at the New York Metropolitan Museum.
At the Metropolitan he was spotted by former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland who had him work as her personal helper on an exhibition. Even today, Talley respectfully refers to her as Mrs Vreeland, decades after the legendary fashion editor has passed. As the film progresses we see what a monumental figure she was in his life.
Impressed with his abilities, Vreeland sets him up with a job at Andy Warhol’s Interviewmagazine – and his journey into the world of fashion and publishing begins – and we as the viewer are taken on a journey through the hedonistic days of Studio 54, the excess and grandeur of the 1980’s and the rise of the supermodels.
What this documentary reveals is that Talley is an intriguing character full of contradictions. He was there for the wild partying of the disco era, but says he wasn’t down in the basement where they took the drugs or up on Studio 54’s balcony where the wild orgies took place.
He’s one of the most prominent black men in the US cultural landscape, but he’s still been affected by racism throughout his life. He’s loud, camp and outrageous but also somewhat conservative, and a traditionalist.
For decades we’ve seen Talley appear in increasingly over the top clothes, jewelry and turbans, but what is going underneath is far more intriguing.
Graeme Watson
This review was originally published during the screening of the Revelation Perth International Film Festival.
