Andre Leon Talley rejects being labeled as 'gay' - but reveals he has 'had very gay experiences'

Andre Leon Talley, the editor-at-large of Numero Russia, and until recently, an editor at Vogue, has opened up about life in the fast-lane of the fashion industry.

Discussing his sexuality, struggles with weight and how race has hindered his career, the single 63-year-old told Vanity Fair he rejects being labeled as gay.

'I was just into my magazines and the drawings,' he reveals in the magazine's September issue. 'I had a very strict upbringing, almost puritanical. . . I was in my grandmother’s house, and I respected that!'

Front-row regular: Discussing his sexuality, struggles with weight and how race has hindered his career, Andre Leon Talley, 63, told Vanity Fair he rejects being labeled as gay

Mr Talley, who grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and was raised by his grandmother during the Fifties and Sixties, added, however, that he has 'had very gay experiences' - but not with fashion designers.

'I swear on my grandmother’s grave that I never slept with a single designer in my life. Never, ever desired, never was asked, never was approached, never, ever bought, in my entire career. Never. Not one. Skinny or fat. Never.'

Mr Talley, who was in 2007 was ranked 45th in Out magazine's 50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America, says that he has never been in love with a man - only two women.

'I swear on my grandmother’s grave that I never slept with a single designer in my life'

But he seems content with being single, nonetheless. 'If I was a couple, I wouldn’t like to stay in the same bedroom. It is very un-chic in Europe to sleep in the same bedroom,' he said.

The front-row regular also discussed his long-time struggle with weight.

'The people who are really close to me and know me have stopped bringing my weight up,' he explained, before adding, 'They probably discuss it behind my back, some of them, in the fashion world.'

Fashion friends: The former Vogue editor-at-large, who was ranked 45th in Out magazine's 50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America in 2007, says that he has never been in love with a man - only two women

After undergoing surgery, where Mr Talley received a lap band that has not worked, he said he no longer weighs himself.

'I do not want to get on that scale. I only know what I weigh from the way my clothes fit,' he said.

'I have never felt less of a person because of my dramatic weight gain. Up or down, my confidence and sense of self never wavered.'

He also opened up about his experiences with racism in the fashion industry, and admits he wonders why he has never been offered the role of editor-in-chief at a major magazine,

'People stereotype you. What person of color do you know who’s in a position like that, be it a man or a woman, unless it’s Essence magazine?' he quipped.