Albert Delègue
| Albert Delègue | |
|---|---|
| Born | Albert Delègue 2 May 1963 Rambouillet, Yvelines, France |
| 💀Died | 14 April 1995 (aged 31) Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France14 April 1995 (aged 31) |
| 💼 Occupation | |
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Albert Delègue (2 May 1963 – 14 April 1995) was a French male model of international renown, best known for serving as the face of Giorgio Armani's men's fragrance in the early 1990s. Represented by the Success and IPS Models agencies in Paris, he was one of the most prominent male supermodels of his era, alongside Marcus Schenkenberg, Werner Schreyer, Cameron Alborzian, Greg Hansen and Alain Gossuin.[1][2]
Early life
Albert Delègue was born on 2 May 1963 in Rambouillet, in the Yvelines department of Île-de-France.[1] He was the youngest of three children; his father was a French general practitioner and former director of the préventorium at Astuque, near Bagnères-de-Bigorre, and his mother was a ceramicist of Portuguese origin who later became president of the Fondation Albert Delègue.[3] He had two older sisters, Paola and Jacqueline.[3]
Delègue grew up in Mérilheu, a small village perched on the hillsides above Bagnères-de-Bigorre in the Pyrenees.[1][3] Passionate about outdoor and glide sports such as skiing, surfing and white-water rafting, he initially pursued a career as a ski instructor, spending two seasons working for Club Med.[1][3]
Modelling career
Discovery and early work
In 1989, at the age of 26, a friend introduced Delègue to Olivier Bertrand, the head of the Success modelling agency in Paris. Bertrand told OK Podium magazine that he immediately recognised Delègue's potential.[4] Two days after his first test shoot, Delègue had already secured a major advertising contract, his debut being a campaign for the brand Bourgeois.[1][3]
International career
Delègue quickly rose to prominence, lending his image to campaigns for Calvin Klein, Versace, Valentino, Sonia Rykiel, Daniel Hechter, Kenzo, Chevignon, Morgan, Iceberg and René Lezard.[5][3]
The turning point in his career came in 1991, when he signed a multi-year contract with Giorgio Armani, reportedly worth five million French francs, to become the face of the Armani men's fragrance.[2][6] He remained the brand's lead male model until his death in 1995.[1] The iconic 1992 Armani cologne advertisement, photographed by Bruce Weber, featured Delègue's face pressed against a woman's shoulder, an image that came to symbolise masculine elegance in that decade.[4] Herb Ritts also photographed Delègue for Versace in 1991.[4]
During the height of his career (1989–1994), Delègue was considered one of the highest-paid male models in the world.[2] His career, however, lasted only five years.[4]
Other projects
In 1992, Delègue joined fellow Success agency models Werner Schreyer, Cameron Alborzian, Greg Hansen, Chris Martin and Alain Gossuin in recording a charity single titled Tender Loving Care for the humanitarian association Équilibre, in support of victims of the Bosnian War.[2][3] In 1993, he recorded a song for the film Le Tronc by Karl Zéro.[2]
Death
Albert Delègue died on 14 April 1995, at 6:30 p.m., at the Hôpital de Purpan in Toulouse.[7][3] He was 31 years old. His family initially stated that his death was the result of a jet-ski accident in August 1994, which they said had left him paralysed for months; he had been admitted to hospital on 22 March 1995.[8]
On 19 April 1995, however, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that Delègue had in fact died of AIDS-related complications.[1] L'Humanité published the story the same day, and Le Monde followed on 20 April.[7][6] Some sources specified the cause of death as AIDS-related encephalitis.[8] Delègue's mother denied the information, but the press continued to report it.[1]
Fellow model Alain Gossuin addressed the controversy publicly. In an interview published in Playboy in 2010, he recalled having spoken on the French television show Tout est possible to confirm the press reports about Delègue's cause of death, but stated that his segment was censored at the editing stage after intervention by Delègue's family.[9]
On 20 April 1995, Delègue's ashes were scattered in the bay of São Martinho do Porto in Portugal, a place dear to his family.[3]
Legacy
In 1999, a boardercross and hydrospeed trophy bearing Delègue's name was created in Mérilheu, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, honouring his lifelong passion for outdoor sports.[10] The same year, a documentary tribute was broadcast on TF1 as part of the programme Sagas on 25 August 1999.[10]
In October 1995, Delègue's mother founded the Association-Fondation Albert Delègue in his memory.[3]
In 2019, the American website LGBTQ Nation published an article revisiting the circumstances of Delègue's death and the stigma surrounding AIDS in the fashion world during the 1990s.[8]
Two books have been written about him:
- Maja and Jacques Delègue, Albert tel qu'en lui-même: Par ses amis, ses admirateurs, sa famille, ses parents, Éditions Michel Lafon, 1995 (ISBN 978-2-8409-8139-8 Search this book on .)
- Jean-Pierre Alaux, Albert Delègue le Magnifique, Ramsay, 1995 (ISBN 978-2-8411-4149-4 Search this book on .)[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Albert Delegue : biographie courte, dates, citations". L'Internaute (in français). 6 February 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Albert Delègue : mannequin français légendaire des années 90". Men Magazine (in français). 29 January 2026. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 "Albert Delègue". delegue.chez.com (in français). Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Gus Kenworthy (Albert Delègue)". The AIDS Monument. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ Bonnet, Philippe (21 April 1995). "Armani cessera d'exploiter l'image d'Albert Delègue". Libération (in français). Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "ALBERT DELÈGUE mannequin vedette du couturier Armani". Le Monde (in français). 20 April 1995. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Mort du mannequin-vedette Albert Delègue". L'Humanité (in français). 19 April 1995. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "This famous male model died of AIDS, but his family told the media he had a skiing accident". LGBTQ Nation. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ "Alain Gossuin, top model des années 90 : « J'ai mis un terme à ma médiatisation car je n'avais rien à dire, je n'avais aucun fond »". PurePeople (in français). 2 July 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Albert Delègue, magnifique et simple". La Dépêche du Midi (in français). 25 August 1999. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
External links
- Albert Delègue on IMDb
- Albert Delègue -- family memorial page
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