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The Met to host an exhibition about John Galliano
Following controversy over the most recent gala sponsored by Jeff Bezos, the Met’s Costume Institute is once again sparking debate with its forthcoming spring exhibition: John Galliano, the designer dismissed by Dior in 2011 after an antisemitic tirade in a Paris bar, will be at the heart of the major showcase, widely regarded as the global fashion world’s premier cultural and social event
Every spring, the museum turns the spotlight on a major theme or a single designer: following Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Rei Kawakubo in 2017, Galliano will be only the third living couturier in decades to receive a dedicated exhibition at the Met. But that is not the only development: according to The New York Times, once it closes at the Met in January, the exhibition could travel to other museums- a rare honour for the Costume Institute
The decision to feature Galliano was preceded by meetings between the Met’s leadership, the Costume Institute’s patron, Anna Wintour, and a group of influential leaders from New York’s Jewish community. The exhibition will not present a traditional narrative of downfall and redemption, but will instead explore how aesthetic value, ethical responsibility and institutional recognition intertwine and influence one another
“Alongside Galliano’s extraordinary creative achievements, the exhibition will also address the offensive behaviour that has profoundly marked his career. In doing so, we will reflect on how artistic achievements should be evaluated in the light of ethics,” the museum said in a press release
A Gibraltar-born British designer, Galliano is regarded as one of the most important contemporary fashion designers, admired and worn by celebrities such as Amal Clooney, Tyla, the Kardashians and Zendaya
A graduate of the prestigious Central Saint Martins, he led Dior from 1996 to 2011, creating collections that blurred the boundaries between haute couture and the realm of fantasy. The episode that thrust Galliano into the wider public eye came in 2011, when he was filmed, drunk in a bar, praising Hitler and insulting Jewish people. In the wake of the scandal, the designer lost his job and was convicted by a Paris court of incitement to racial hatred. After a period of ostracism and rehabilitation, Galliano returned to work in 2014 as creative director of Maison Margiela, a post he held for 10 years. This year, a two-year collaboration with Zara was greeted with applause rather than consternation
The decision to make him the focus of the exhibition nevertheless raises questions at a time when antisemitism is on the rise worldwide. In the years following his downfall, Galliano found an important ally in Wintour: “No one deserves an exhibition of this magnitude more than he does,” the queen of fashion wrote in The New York Times, arguing that “Galliano’s career is not defined by a single incident, even if it is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life
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