The Gospel According to André
Film
Review by Kam Williams
Riveting
Retrospective Chronicles Career of Flamboyant Fashionista
André
Leon Talley was born on October 16, 1949 in Washington, DC, but
raised in Durham, NC by his maternal grandmother, Bennie Davis. Even
though she was a housekeeper who scrubbed floors at Duke University
to keep a roof over their heads, she was also aristocratic in the
highest sense of the word.
Through
Mamie, André cultivated the values and sense of dignity which would
serve him well once he made his way out of the Jim Crow South. For,
after earning his BA at North Carolina Central University and an MA
at Brown in French, he headed to New York City to begin what would be
an incomparable career in the world of fashion.
That
impressive accomplishment is chronicled in very compelling fashion in
The Gospel According to André, an intimate retrospective directed by
Kate Novack (Eat This New York). A profusion of pop icons pay homage
to the flamboyant fashionista in the biopic, including will.i.am,
supermodel Isabella Rossellini, designer Diane von Furstenberg and
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, who kisses his hand.
However,
the cameos pale in comparison to André's own revealing account of
how he overcame his modest roots with the help of his mentor, doyenne
Diana Vreeland, as well as Andy Warhol, Karl Lagerfeld and Vogue
editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. We learn that he arrived in the Big
Apple a diamond-in-the-rough, given how he'd been appreciating style
since childhood.
He
explains that he'd been treated to a weekly fashion show by the
ladies in his church's congregation. While many of these proud black
women might have toiled as lowly domestic servants during the week,
they would invariably arrive decked out on Sunday. André's thirst
for haute couture was further whetted by magazines like W and Vogue
which enabled him to mentally escape the limitations of life in
racist North Carolina to a fantasy universe filled with pleasant and
beautiful pictures.
On
his way up the ladder, the 6' 6" tall trailblazer studiously
avoided the traps of drugs and indiscriminate sexual liaisons that
destroyed the future of so many others in the Seventies and Eighties.
André does confess to being a regular on Studio 54's dance floor,
but he just never participated in any of the self-destructive
behavior.
Instead,
he parlayed successes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art , Warhol's
Interview magazine and Women's Wear Daily into a gig as Vogue's
Fashion News Director. In that capacity, he became a fixture on the
front row of leading runway shows, cutting an imposing figure in his
signature flowing capes.
And
what sage advice does the trendsetting André have to offer today?
"Fashion is fleeting. Style remains. Create your own universe,
and share it with people you respect and love. Beauty comes in many
forms. It could be a flower. it could be a gesture."
Precious
pearls of wisdom, indeed, from a legendary gentle giant.
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and some suggestive content
In French with subtitles
Running time: 94 minutes
Production Studio: RossVack Productions [Andrew Rossi/Kate Novack]
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
To see a trailer for The Gospel According to André , visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzZkVGCY5rY
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