John Galliano - Designer, Creative Director of Maison Margiela

[Lola701]

^^
You are comparing the behavior of a man, who by the way wasn’t at his first try (this was the only time it was filmed), as his antics were regular at La Perle to the practices that are the results of Capitalism. None of those things have a correlation.

Anybody, in any kind of organisation, with those obvious proofs would have lost his/her job. In Organizations, people can hide behind he said/she said to cover their acts. When the proof is that obvious, the results are there.

Racism or anti-semitism is a crime. The same year, I may add that Jean Paul Guerlain was removed from the board of the group that has his name because he had a racist comment on French TV.

Using subcontractors in Italy that are using the weakness of Italian laws to produce bags is unethical maybe but not a crime still.

I don’t know if I’m convinced that John didn’t believed the comment he said. I don’t know what to think because after the thing happened, he went to NYC and dressed in a way that evoked Jew costumes.
I always have the feeling that John is performing, that he probably didn’t realized that this thing happened to him. He probably does not still realize that the person at La Perle was him…

You can have a deep interest in cultures and still have prejudices around people. And maybe those prejudices turned into those comments.

Karl for example had the same problem. The prejudices he had against Syrian refugees through the story of his friend made him make a dumb islamophobic comment on French TV while having Muslims in his entourage and while supporting at the same time someone like Leila Slimani.

We still don’t know what was the reason of what Galliano said. We may never know.

But even with all that, John Galliano is a genius, a wonderful designer and a living legend. I do enjoy hearing him talk about his work but I’m totally fine with the fact that I don’t have to love the man to enjoy his work.

I don’t like Pierre Bergé but I have always admired what he has done for YSL and his work against AIDS.

 

[PDFSD]

so now we are equating someones drunk behaviors into crimes...

Anyway im definitely not sure what you were vouching for. But it is always an interesting conversation what the arts field look like if everyone was nice and kind and considerate.

its like asking what taylor swifts discography will sound like without all her heartbreaks 😂

JG behaviour can´t be summed up to the limited "only to drunken behavior" label, he was like this in the studio in day time as well.
Lets not forget he went to court for the hate speech which is a crime, and he served the community as his sentence.

So clearly he knows now how to behave and still made a decent HC show reminiscent of his early years my favorite years of his... so what happened had to happen & probably saved his life as well.

As much as we should be giving people second chances, we should as well call a spade a spade and not down play unacceptable behavior that cross the line of decency respect and law.

You can still love his work but have big repulsion to his behavior of then, its healthy to know humans are not one dimensional, but no need to come up with excuses for his wrong deeds.

Impatience or being demanding or difficult or dramatic or insecure, indecisive, perfectionistic even mood swings etc are common with creative directors, no one that knows these realities have big issues with this but there is a line that should not be crossed and some do cross it with or without consequences.

 

[CholoChic]

I think that today more than ever I understood Galliano, especially after his last show, with all those hungry people, the hopeless, thugs, alcoholics shaking for a drink, the homeless, the evicted, broken dolls, prostitutes and characters of the night that I know so well from this place where I live in Peru, so poor, so beautiful, and so stylish too.

 

[GRCF]

I really understand the way Galliano immersed himself in alcohol and the stupid things he did, I understand it perfectly, I also know that there are drunks who do not remember anything of what they said and the video shows a mutual fight with provocations from the other party with the intention of filming him, it was horrible and it was not correct of course and this being a crime in France it was the worst thing for him.

But I never believed his anti-Semitic insults, it didn't even seem fair to me, nor did it seem racist to me, because his work was full of diversity, even his first men's show had a sequence of Jews.

But it's ironic that this got him out of alcoholism in time, which I understand is not easy to get out of.

However, the most hypocritical industry of all condemned him and, with the superficiality that it is, stoned him.

And few understood or tried to understand and why would a vanity industry full of superficial clients who would hardly understand the symbol of a detail or understand the brushstroke of an artist.

Because finally Galliano is an artist, it is the reason that attracted me to him: his art. And when he left the industry I was looking for the trace of art in fashion and I could barely find anything that I could call art.

And this time it is when he returns to his stolen throne that those who expelled him become involved in a scandal of exploitation poor people and defrauding customers with cheap, not to say ugly, bags. Where are the scandalized Natalies Portmans swearing they will never wear Dior again?

This entire statement! He said one (horrible) thing while being provoked. Whereas Karl Lagerfeld (don’t come at me stans) and others consistently spewed trash but probably never even received a side eye glance from anyone. The Arnaults idiolized him, and still do. Anyway there is a good book called Monsters that discusses why some people who do bad things are idiolized and why others aren’t. I do still think the reaction to his treatment is unfair but it also comes from European guilt over the Holocaust and over correction on the subject. I’m sure had he just insulted them some other way nothing would have changed because like you said, it is a frivolous industry.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

This entire statement! He said one (horrible) thing while being provoked. Whereas Karl Lagerfeld (don’t come at me stans) and others consistently spewed trash but probably never even received a side eye glance from anyone. The Arnaults idiolized him, and still do. Anyway there is a good book called Monsters that discusses why some people who do bad things are idiolized and why others aren’t. I do still think the reaction to his treatment is unfair but it also comes from European guilt over the Holocaust and over correction on the subject. I’m sure had he just insulted them some other way nothing would have changed because like you said, it is a frivolous industry.

I’ve stayed away from discussing the controversy much on this forum because I honestly did not think I could with any restraint and eloquence (like PDFSD and Lola701 did so incredibly well above ) and even in my recent post I purposely focused on his current impact or lack thereof, but it’s hard not to jump in after this post. We can all disagree about how he should have been reprimanded and how much redemption he should be afforded, but to minimize what he said and how others feel about it is unfair and sometimes belittling.

What Galliano said was absolutely horrific and the consequences he reaped were the minimum in my opinion. Yes, if his insults were different the reaction could have been different because if you are fair and reasonable you understand that different things require and illicit different reactions and repercussions. There are levels of insults and Galliano went for some of the most vile. We are not talking about going after appearances (which he did in that same incident) or even general antisemitism here, he said “I love Hitler. People like you would be dead today. Your mothers, your forefathers would f**king gassed and f**king dead.”

I hope we can all agree throwing in someone’s face the ethnic murder of someone’s kindred, the cruel method of the acts, and declaring the love the one responsible is something at the far fringes of insults. I am not European or Jewish and I was SICKENED so I do not agree with that argument either. Let’s play devil’s advocate and take away the raging antisemitism and that it is a CRIMINAL offense, this is still disgusting remarks. To go to death as an insult is just extreme. I honestly also don’t care for that he was intoxicated and fighting some big demons - racism is not a known side effect of drugs. I also cannot say that he is racist as he could’ve said these things knowing it would be what was most hurtful in that moment and not a long held belief of his. But again, to choose that as a point of attack was a disgusting low and required accountability. He was also vicious in his offices and ateliers.

I am a big Margiela fan. Martin’s work there and at Hermes truly is what fueled my love for the fashion so I was hurt when Galliano was brought on. For me another misstep in OTB’s handling of the house. I will admit that I still shop the brand, not as much as I did before Galliano, and not as much as I will once he’s left. I don’t shop many other brands for less offenses but my affinity for the brand is so much (I have a Margiela tattoo) that it keeps me going back even though it is with a heavy heart. It being a design collective and most of what is available is not from his runway collections makes me feel like I’m not supporting him directly, or so I tell myself. I love Martin but if he said these things I would give the brand up and feel the same about his trajectory after.

Galliano is an absolute genius, one of the greatest , but for me that is not enough. I can still appreciate his previous work and celebrate it when it warrants it like I did of his last Artisanal triumph, but I cannot call for him to be installed back to heights he was. His incident was that offensive and objectively his fashion no longer has a place at the biggest houses because it would not bring in the sales they need.

 

[GRCF]

I’ve stayed away from discussing the controversy much on this forum because I honestly did not think I could with any restraint and eloquence (like PDFSD and Lola701 did so incredibly well above ) and even in my recent post I purposely focused on his current impact or lack thereof, but it’s hard not to jump in after this post. We can all disagree about how he should have been reprimanded and how much redemption he should be afforded, but to minimize what he said and how others feel about it is unfair and sometimes belittling.

What Galliano said was absolutely horrific and the consequences he reaped were the minimum in my opinion. Yes, if his insults were different the reaction could have been different because if you are fair and reasonable you understand that different things require and illicit different reactions and repercussions. There are levels of insults and Galliano went for some of the most vile. We are not talking about going after appearances (which he did in that same incident) or even general antisemitism here, he said “I love Hitler. People like you would be dead today. Your mothers, your forefathers would f**king gassed and f**king dead.”

I hope we can all agree throwing in someone’s face the ethnic murder of someone’s kindred, the cruel method of the acts, and declaring the love the one responsible is something at the far fringes of insults. I am not European or Jewish and I was SICKENED so I do not agree with that argument either. Let’s play devil’s advocate and take away the raging antisemitism and that it is a CRIMINAL offense, this is still disgusting remarks. To go to death as an insult is just extreme. I honestly also don’t care for that he was intoxicated and fighting some big demons - racism is not a known side effect of drugs. I also cannot say that he is racist as he could’ve said these things knowing it would be what was most hurtful in that moment and not a long held belief of his. But again, to choose that as a point of attack was a disgusting low and required accountability. He was also vicious in his offices and ateliers.

I am a big Margiela fan. Martin’s work there and at Hermes truly is what fueled my love for the fashion so I was hurt when Galliano was brought on. For me another misstep in OTB’s handling of the house. I will admit that I still shop the brand, not as much as I did before Galliano, and not as much as I will once he’s left. I don’t shop many other brands for less offenses but my affinity for the brand is so much (I have a Margiela tattoo) that it keeps me going back even though it is with a heavy heart. It being a design collective and most of what is available is not from his runway collections makes me feel like I’m not supporting him directly, or so I tell myself. I love Martin but if he said these things I would give the brand up and feel the same about his trajectory after.

Galliano is an absolute genius, one of the greatest , but for me that is not enough. I can still appreciate his previous work and celebrate it when it warrants it like I did of his last Artisanal triumph, but I cannot call for him to be installed back to heights he was. His incident was that offensive and objectively his fashion no longer has a place at the biggest houses because it would not bring in the sales they need.

It wasn't my intention to minimize what he said or how people feel about it, so I do apologize if that's how it came off. And I certainly agree that he should have lost his job, but I disagree that he should not be allowed to redeem himself, especially when we offer other's who have done worst that same grace. Personally, I don't think he should be allowed back at Dior, or even Givenchy or Fendi. And should not have been hired at Margiela. And I actually don't believe he is sorry about his behavior. I believe he is sorry he was caught and lost his job and his standing. My problem is with people, in general not just in this industry (but very much so in fashion and the arts), picking and choosing what to be outraged about, and who is deserving of punishment for that thing we are outraged about, and who we can turn a blind eye to. I was absolutely disgusted by what Galliano said, as I was about all the crap KL said, about all the people in the industry who take advantage of others but because they draw, or take a picture, or direct a film, or act but because they are 'geniuses' we will protect them, and stand up for them, and keep placing them on pedestals. We keep sh*tty people around just because they are good at something as if they are the only ones who can do that one thing, as if the world will crumble and be robbed of something if we held them accountable and said there is no space for people who do (insert horrible act). So, I'm sorry if I roll my eyes every time someone brings up this incident with Galliano as a reason to not give him a job when we celebrate and idolize people who are just as bad or worse than him, but did they not say something anti-Semitic so they are okay, when we minimize and belittle things like any kind of abuse, other racist remarks/acts.

 

[PDFSD]

European guilt over the Holocaust and over correction on the subject.

Your crossing a line of human decency here and i feel we are on twitter /x territory where people trying to rewrite a dreadful history that has no place other than total be denounced and condemn as pure human evil never to happen again in any shape or form.

There is simply no way to justify anything he said period.

 

[tourbillions]

i dont know whether he meant what he said and lived by those thoughts or if it was all a result from being aggravated. I guess every people who dont know him personally will never know. What is clear was that people wanted/expected dramatic results out of the situation and they even prepared a video camera for it. it was an unfortunate and possibly highly produced situation. Unless you have been that drunk in your life, it is hard to understand how alcohol can take over your thoughts and body without you knowing it.

It makes it a hard situation to fully take his words seriously because he wasn't in a state where he can think properly. And you can clearly hear in the womens voices how they are enjoying the unfortunate situation. Any drunk person, drinking alone, possibly wanting some time off of their crazy schedule would be annoyed at anyone making fun of them like this.

Could imagine him just squeezing his brains out, sketching his latest collection, then going out drinking for some alone time. And these girls happen to be beside him poking fun at him at that moment. or he could just be a terrible human being at any given day or time.

 

[CholoChic]

Designer of the year:

JOHN GALLIANO FOR MAISON MARGIELA​