Curating André Leon Talley’s legacy at SCAD FASH

Custom mannequin modeled after Andre Leon Talley wearing a red cape and tuxedo
A custom mannequin modeled on André Leon Talley’s likeness wears a dramatic red cape, reflecting the fashion icon’s commanding presence and signature sense of spectacle. (Courtesy of SCAD FASH Museum)

When “André Leon Talley: Style Is Forever” opened at SCAD FASH in Atlanta, it marked more than the arrival of a major fashion exhibition. It marked the completion of a project whose central voice was no longer there to guide it.

Talley helped shape the exhibition before his 2022 death. What followed was an uncommon curatorial task: translating a living collaborator’s standards, tastes and authority into decisions made after loss.

At SCAD, that work fell largely to Rafael Gomes, creative director of the SCAD fashion museums in Atlanta and Lacoste, France — and a longtime collaborator of Talley’s.