Does John Galliano Really Need Another Job?
The fashion industry seems to think so, but really: why?
In today’s issue:
John Galliano seems all but certain to get another big job. My thoughts on whether or not he should.
Highlights from the new documentary, High & Low: John Galliano, now streaming in the U.S.
Loose Threads, including Burberry’s slump, Anna Wintour cuddling a puppy, and how much it will cost to attend Vogue World Paris.
John Galliano has for the most part been restored to his former glory. Widely considered by many to be one of, if not the best fashion designers of the last century and a quarter, his latest couture collection for Maison Margiela has been generating shockwaves of excitement since it walked in late January.
Just this week, we saw a dress from that collection on Greta Gerwig at the Cannes Film Festival. Before that, Hunter Schafer wore it to the Berlin Film Festival and Anya Taylor-Joy wore it to the Dune: Part Two premiere in New York. Galliano designed six headlining looks for the recent Met Gala, including for Zendaya, Kim Kardashian, Ariana Grande, and Bad Bunny. The Cut had earlier reported that the exhibition that Gala opened had originally been planned as a retrospective of his work, but that the museum scuttled it, fearing backlash.
That he wasn’t the focus of the museum show hardly seemed to matter, really. If Anna Wintour wanted the night to be all about him, she got her wish. By at least one (admittedly imperfect) estimate, his looks got more exposure than even the event’s sponsor Loewe, which dressed 17 guests.
Earlier this month, British Elle ran a story asking, “Is 2024 The Year Of John Galliano?” You might argue that yes, Galliano has headlined fashion so far this year. He was also the subject of the documentary High & Low: John Galliano, produced by Condé Nast with Anna Wintour’s personal involvement, directed by Kevin Macdonald (you can stream it on Mubi via Amazon Prime). His vintage dresses continue to appear on celebrities, like Bella Hadid, to great excitement. I expect we’ll see more vintage Galliano at Cannes, if not more Margiela.
This comeback, from being fired from Dior in 2011 after a series of anti-semitic tirades, is nothing short of tremendous. Especially when revisiting what lost him the Dior job in a New Yorker story from that time:
In three separate incidents—one in October, one in December, and one on Thursday night—patrons of a Parisian bar have accused John Galliano of similarly worded anti-Semitic rants, and in one case, of an anti-Asian rant, all of which were apparently unprovoked. Galliano denies the charges, but a videotape made of the second incident was circulated online yesterday. In it, Galliano tells a woman at the next table: “I love Hitler. People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be fucking gassed.”
…Galliano, an anointed high priest of chic, has been accused of calling a bar patron—who, for the record, is not Jewish—a “dirty Jew face,” and, in the video, called a woman “ugly” and deplored her clothes and grooming.
It’s been more than 13 years since all this happened. Galliano has said he has studied antisemitism and atoned, that he — an addict — was blackout drunk when he spewed those hateful remarks and doesn’t remember doing so.
Yet today, he’s not only running a storied brand in Margiela, but he’s also rumored to be going somewhere even bigger and better — like Givenchy or another big, fancy brand. Journalist and Galliano biographer
hears he is being courted by Kering for Balenciaga. Maybe Anna will try to get the Galliano Costume Institute show to run next year or the year after. But really, how much more help does Galliano need?I have not stated my views publicly on Galliano’s rehabilitation, but:
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