Although only a few months have passed since the Met Gala, with a scant number of latex wardrobes seen, the organizers of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vogue have already announced that the 2027 Met Gala will feature the exhibit, John Galliano: Horizons. This marks only the third time in Met history that a living designer will be the featured subject of a Costume Institute solo exhibition, the others being Yves Saint Laurent and Rei Kawakubo.
But this announcement has surely met with its share of controversy.
One might recall Galliano’s fall from Dior grace when he uttered some antisemitic and racist comments at a Paris bar in 2011. Later claiming that he didn’t recall the incident, suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction, Galliano was dismissed from Christian Dior and faced a hate crime conviction in France. Undergoing treatment for his addictions, Galliano was then helped by Anna Wintour (then-editor-in-chief of Vogue and the lead chairperson of the Met Gala) to see Galliano hired by Maison Margiela in 2014. Wintour claims she met with New York City’s “influential rabbis and Jewish leaders” to “get their thoughts on the potential issues with next year’s planned fashion extravaganza.”
Even a casual fashion fan can recall other fashion designer controversies, either from what a designer said, like Galliano, how they conducted their business, or even from the designs they created that might indeed have changed couture history:
- Alexander McQueen’s ‘Voss’ collection, featuring showpieces that included razor clam shell dresses, antique Japanese screens and taxidermy hawks.
- Lady Gaga’s Franc Fernandez meat dress, which surely poked the sensibilities of animal rights activists.
- Claims that Calvin Klein sexualized model Brooke Shields in his 1980s jean campaign, when Shields was a mere teen.
To name but a few.
The Galliano exhibition title “Horizons” is said to reflect both the designer’s unmistakable influence as well as how cultural values have shifted in time around his designs.
