The creative genius of John Galliano rose four decades ago but managed to remain relevant and exciting. He is known for being scandalous and provocative, both in his work and, sometimes, in his life. Despite all controversies and scandals, Galliano seems to have redeemed his reputation. Read on to learn more about John Galliano’s creative genius and the concerns surrounding his personality.
The Not-So-Fashionable Origins of John Galliano
John Galliano was born in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, to a plumber and a housewife. The colorful and diverse life of Gibraltar’s cityscapes and nature, as well as the streets filled with sailors from all over the world, made a lasting impression on Galliano. Six years after John’s birth, his family moved to South London.
Galliano’s mother was Spanish and deeply loved traditional and colorful Spanish fashion and dances. She made her passion known not only from her own wardrobe but from that of her young son. For John’s first communion, she dressed him in a white suit with gold and red rosary around the boy’s neck. Needless to say, such wardrobe choices were not appreciated by the crowd of working-class kids from his London school.
Galliano was relentlessly and violently bullied—for his suits, his foreign roots, and later, his sexuality and interest in clothes. John’s father, a Gibraltarian of Italian descent, was not too happy about his son’s interests but made no attempts to enforce his own view on them. After finishing school, he was admitted into Central Saint Martins College, the institution famous for its quality training and a list of world-famous alumni.
Galliano’s Inspirations: History
In Central Saint Martins, Galliano got rid of his mother’s suits, preferring a simple uniform of jeans, t-shirts, and combat boots. Professors described him as quiet and shy, immersed in books and archives. In fact, Galliano’s work with historical sources became the basis for his usual way of creating collections. Referencing history was not exactly new for fashion designers, but Galliano’s boldness and intensity brought a fresh start into the stagnating domain of fashion.
Galliano presented his graduate collection in 1984. It was inspired by a pro-royalist youth subculture of post-revolutionary France. Known as Les Incroyables (The Incredible), young men emulated the excessive opulence of the ruling class through exaggerated proportions of their dress and exalted mannerisms. The collection was so impressive it was immediately bought by the London department store Browns, which was almost unheard of. The next day, Galliano set up his shop window at Browns and sold his first garment to none other than the famous singer Diana Ross.
Almost immediately, Galliano became a sensation in the world of fashion. In 1989, he moved to Paris in search of better funding opportunities. In 1996, the designer was appointed chief designer to the legendary Givenchy fashion house, becoming the first British designer in charge of a French brand. Critics were concerned about the young designer’s respect towards his predecessors, yet Galliano managed to maintain the spirit of the old Givenchy while still doing his own thing. His first couture collection for the house was a mixture of references to 19th-century aristocratic portraiture, flapper fashion, and the post-war New Look silhouette.
Historical references in Galliano’s work are usually abundant but chaotic. Not content with following a single theme, he usually combines numerous epochs, cultures, and styles into strange hybrids. A year after his appointment at Givenchy, he was transferred to Dior, where he would spend 15 years of his career. Galliano’s Dior period is considered one of the most important not only in the designer’s career but in the fashion house’s history as well. His 2004 couture collection was inspired by Russian aristocracy and paintings of Egon Schiele. In other collections, he borrowed influences from China, Japan, and Egypt (often up to the point of being accused of cultural appropriation), military and civil uniforms, and fetishwear.
Theater
While studying at the Central Saint Martins, Galliano worked as a dresser at the London National Theatre. This job made a formative impact on his later works, forging the signature aesthetic of John Galliano’s designs. Theater costumes are meant to be observed from afar. They visually express the depth of characters’ emotional and narrative nuances. Galliano adopted their over-the-top decoration, dramatism, and clear storytelling into his couture designs for Givenchy, Dior, and his own eponymous brand. Partially, this theatricality was inspired by the 1980s British subculture of the New Romantics, which wore outrageous history-inspired costumes and makeup, ignoring gender and social conventions of their time.
The rapid development of Galliano’s career happened at the time of the great transformation of both the fashion and media worlds. John Galliano and Alexander McQueen, both of working-class origins and both appointed at Givenchy one after another, were the forerunners of the idea of a fashion show being a spectacle rather than a demonstration of clothes. Fashion shows turned from industry-specific events to something shared with the rest of the world. McQueen, for instance, was the first designer to arrange live streaming of his show in 2010. In that environment, catwalks turned to stages and models into performers, moving the collection’s narrative forward. Galliano’s early shows were too shocking for many. In his debut collection titled The Ludic Game, he splashed models with water before sending them on the catwalk and gave some of them fish to hurl at the unsuspecting audience.
Galliano’s own tradition of dressing up for every show finale continues the theatrical tradition of his work. The designer’s own outfits often serve as the final note in the entire narrative of the show, commenting on it and expanding its reach. Galliano insists that he never tries to attract attention to his persona through his costumes – rather, the collection he’s working on shapes his own preferences for a short while. His finale outfits are usually put together at the last minute and are rarely custom. Most likely, the designer would use vintage garments.
Galliano’s Big Return: The Dark Side of Paris
After Galliano’s expulsion from Dior (more about this below), the designer’s future seemed ruined forever. Yet, in 2013, he was appointed creative director at the Maison Martin Margiela house, founded by the famous Belgian master. Galliano spent the following decade keeping a relatively low profile until the time came for his new grand oeuvre.
The show was set under one of the Parisian bridges in a decoration resembling an old French bistro as if abandoned a hundred years ago and left intact. Porcelain faces of the models, created by the famous makeup artist Pat McGrath, combinations of plastic, latex, and lace, as well as the set design, created a haunting sense of decaying glamor and past opulence, awe, and slight discomfort caused by something long-dead suddenly coming to life. Galliano’s principal inspiration came from the photographs of French-Hungarian photographer Brassai.
Brassai spent his 1930s photographing the dark underbelly of Paris, with its brothels and underground bars filled with characters you would not want to meet on an empty street. Galliano offered a similar combination of glamor and danger, with some models walking like broken porcelain dolls and others moving like tugs crawling through the night. Ironically, the show clearly intended to protest against the overwhelming presence of the internet and social media in the fashion industry, and it immediately went viral.
The Elephant in the Room: Controversies Surrounding John Galliano
Initiating a conversation on Galliano would be incorrect without the inevitable mention of the many controversies and scandals surrounding the designer. Apart from accusations of cultural appropriation and exploitation of the unprivileged groups (his 2000 collection for Dior was inspired by the Parisian homeless, with imitations of worn-out shoes, newspaper dresses, and layers of clothing covered in dirt), one occasion was so grave it almost resulted in a prison sentence.
As Galliano’s career progressed, the emotional pressure increased and led to a severe dependency on alcohol and pharmaceutical drugs. Soon, the designer, who was normally shy and quiet, started to experience fits of aggression and delusion. At the height of his addiction, Galliano was banned from around 20 hotels in London for destroying furniture and attacking other guests. In late 2010, Galliano, drunk and delusional, on three different occasions insulted three unrelated groups of women in a Parisian cafe. The nature of his insults was anti-Semitic and included Galliano professing his alleged love for Adolf Hitler. The cafe visitors caught one of the rants on camera. After the videos went public, Galliano was immediately fired not only from Dior but from his eponymous label.
After the incident, Galliano spent several years in rehab, battling his addictions and educating himself. In 2013, the New York anti-discrimination NGO Anti-Defamation League issued a statement that Galliano contacted them in order to learn more about harmful language and avoid similar behavior in the future. Despite controversies, Galliano was appointed creative director of the Maison Martin Margiela brand in 2013. Many questioned the decision, citing both Galliano’s problematic behavior and his specific design style, yet it seems that the designer has finally redeemed himself and is ready to make fashion history again.
