André Leon Talley was known for his capes. Jackie Kennedy Onassis for her face-shielding headscarves and glasses. Anna Wintour has her Louise Brooks bob and omnipresent sunglasses. The Queen, her Launer handbags.
These style signatures are visual markers of their wearers’ personalities. When you think of the looming Talley, who died in January, you think of the person the Vogue editor at large must have been to wear his legendary capes – confident, ambitious, unafraid to take up space (conversely, Wintour’s sunnies are there for her to hide behind).