Andre Leon Talley graces the cover of EBONY magazine’s February digital Issue. Inside the Issue Kimora Lee Simmons helps the publication pay tribute to her friend and cultural icon.

I remember back in the day it wasn’t unusual to see Talley and Simmons front row together at Fashion Week or slaying the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscar party…There were even times you saw red carpet pics of Talley posing with Kimora, Russell and their two daughters Ming Lee and Aoki Lee.

Inside the beautiful spread EBONY and Kimora takes us back down memory lane through pics while the Baby PHAT CEO shares how they met and an intimate look at the life and legacy of The Godfather of fashion:

“We’re always holding each other, kissing, whispering, giggling, covering the mouth, giving a side-eye. Oh, my God! We had code names for everybody in the industry. Life with André was like a kiki—a kiki of the classics.”

“He lived at the intersection of music, fashion and media–including hip-hop culture. All of your favorite hip hop glitterati sought him out as a conduit between urban culture and stylists, editors, and designers. That was one of his great gifts—cross-pollination.” 

“There were a few [Black people in fashion], like Patrick Kelly, but André is one of the very few. And coming from the Deep South and just living in that time, and being able to stand on his own two feet and ascend to all the greatness he did… I realized that he’s kind of like a godfather [to me]. We’re like family.”