Before Zendaya wore two of his dresses to the Met Gala, John Galliano managed to get a store to buy his entire graduation collection.
He was born in Gibraltar and raised in South London. In 1984, he graduated from Saint Martins with a collection inspired by the extravagant youth of post-Revolutionary France. Joan Burstein, of the boutique Browns, bought the entire thing.
It seemed like the perfect start. But getting attention didn't mean being able to afford the next collection.
By 1994, he was practically broke. To pull off his show, patron São Schlumberger lent him her Paris mansion. Galliano presented a collection that blended references to Japanese kimonos with the elegance of the 1940s. That was a turning point: the following year he arrived at Givenchy and, in 1996, at Dior.
At Dior, he left behind some of the most recognizable pieces of the 2000s. The Saddle bag, with its equestrian shape, appeared in 1999 at the Spring/Summer 2000 show. The newspaper-print dress worn by Carrie Bradshaw was also his.
And that print had more history than it seemed. Elsa Schiaparelli had already used press clippings in her designs back in the 1930s. Decades later, Galliano revisited the idea.
That same year, his Spring 2000 haute couture collection, which included references to the homeless, received criticism for turning poverty into a luxury fantasy.
Because his designs could fascinate and also disturb.
Galliano built complete characters. The clothing, makeup, hair, and movement all had to tell the same story. Models could appear as aristocrats from another era or characters from a Parisian night. Their way of walking was part of the collection.
His career took a turn in 2011, when Dior fired him for his anti-Semitic remarks. In 2014, he joined Maison Margiela, where he remained until 2024.
One of his last shows for the house brought together extreme waists, transparencies, and models who looked like porcelain dolls. It was presented under the Pont Alexandre III in Paris.
Galliano made fashion history something that could be provocative, sensual, and new. He had the technique to transform a silhouette and the imagination to build an entire world around it. That combination explains why his work continues to spark so much interest.
He has now just launched a collection with Zara, while the tribute the Met was preparing has been canceled following the controversy over his past remarks. Both pieces of news summarize the place he occupies today: a designer whose creativity remains a reference, but whose recognition continues to face his own history.
0 comments