Part of my job at American Vogue was to work for André on his various projects. It gave me a unique insight into the interests of this larger than life man who has left his mark on Fashion. It was also the most privileged front row seat to the wider world of fashion designers (he truly championed them), old world socialites (his many good friends), fashion history (encyclopaedic) and art (he worked for Andy Warhol!) and showed a real love for beauty, the bon mot and things done elegantly. From his charitable work mentoring young students (particularly at his beloved Savannah College of Art and Design) to the projects that suddenly took his fancy (Russian Vogue shoot is a MUST he said and the ensuing drama I faced getting his visa and the 9 crates of couture to Moscow!), André’s success belied the difficult childhood he had. His grandmother was his light and when he talked about her, you would see the man behind the show...a kind heart, down to earth in all his fabulousness and a genuine interest in people. You could hear André’s voice booming down the corridors of 4 Times Square before you could see him. He would take off his cape and fling it across the desk (it might have landed on my head a few times) sitting on a swivel chair and commanding attention with a story, that however pedestrian it was, in his words turned in to an epic. CHIC! CHIC! CHIC! But what comes to mind now most is his very sweet, life-long friendship with another Fashion Legend – Karl Lagerfeld. There were many mornings when I arrived at my desk and the office fax machine (it lived on my desk) had overflowed with scrolls of fax papers uncurled all over the floor. A missive from Karl to André sent overnight, a hundred pages in giant writing, sometimes a word or sketch per page, which I dutifully cut page by page and put in order. And then the telephone would ring: “Stephanie it’s André. Did Karl write?” Yes, he did. “Read it to me”...which I did, happily, gratefully, amused, knowing even then that this was a moment. Thanking you right back André. Rest In Peace 🕊 Russian Vogue photo Andrei Rozen