Of all my vices I fall back on to procrastinate from studying for exams, following fashion still remains one of my favourites. During this time of year, when it’s grey and cold and everyone is grumpy, it’s always nice to flip through the assorted fashion blogs that are following the new fashion show season and see the tail end of the winter lines being unveiled as well as the beginning of what are always colourful and exciting spring/summer collections. Insanely constructed haute couture collections are always a source of inspiration, and ready-to-wear lines are a source of motivation to graduate so I can make enough money to buy these beautiful clothes and enough shoes to bust a hole through the floor. It’s also a nice chance to escape to another world where the people are happy and well-dressed, but a big part of that came crashing down not that long ago.
John Galliano, a British designer who has been a creative force to be reckoned with in the fashion world since his first mainstream show during Paris fashion week in 1989, was let go from his position as head designer of the Dior fashion house, a position he held since 1996. The suspension was as a result of two videos of Galliano harassing individuals in a Paris bar while making anti-Semitic comments. In one of the videos, Galliano yells disturbing anti-Semetic comments including “I love Hitler… People like you would be dead,” at a group of Italian women. Similar comments toward ‘ugly’ people were also made. The whole thing is rather disturbing, and also confusing since it’s coming from a man with hair down to his chest and a questionable goatee.
Needless to say, some lids have been seriously flipped both within the fashion world as well as mainstream media. Natalie Portman, who recently won an Oscar for her performance in Black Swan and recently signed an endorsement contract for the Miss Dior Cherie fragrance is Jewish and her grandparents were murdered in Auschwitz. In a statement she released, she noted, “I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano’s comments that surfaced today…I hope at the very least, these terrible comments remind us to reflect and act upon combating these still-existing prejudices that are the opposite of all that is beautiful.”
What probably has to be the most disturbing aspect of this whole event is the fact that there are members of the fashion community that are defending Galliano. Stylist and costume designer Patricia Field blasted out 500 emails to friends, colleagues, blogs and the media defending his actions as ‘an act of theater’. In a phone interview with WWD, she referred to Galliano’s behavior in the released tapes as “farce”. She went on to explain, “It’s a farce. But people in fashion don’t recognize the farce in it. All of a sudden they don’t know him. But it’s OK when it’s Mel Brooks’ The Producers singing ‘Springtime for Hitler’.”
Dior has wiped its hands clean of Galliano as quickly as they possibly could – Dior’s chief executive Sidney Toledano released that they had already begun the formal process of dismissing Galliano from Dior the first day following the release of the video tapes; she also added that both her and Dior ‘very firmly condemn what was said by Galliano.’ In a separate release it was announced that Galliano will face trial in Paris for his actions in the Paris bar, after which he could face up to 6 months in prison and a fine of up to 22,500 Euros.
Despite all of this, Dior’s ready-to-wear show is still slated to go on next week during Paris Fashion Week, whereas Galliano’s own line, John Galliano, has been reduced from a full fledged runway show to a private viewing that will take place on the 6th. There must be something in the water, because it seems like this kind of ridiculousness is breaking out everywhere, even in the perfect little dream-world of fashion.
Leave a Reply