+34
Collaboration regarded as ‘really big thing’ for retailer in some quarters despite backlash around designer’s antisemitic remarks in 2011
Collaboration regarded as ‘really big thing’ for retailer in some quarters despite backlash around designer’s antisemitic remarks in 2011at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art would not proceed, his debut collection for fast fashion company Zara has been released.
Called Re{form}, it was, according to a press release, “authored by the couturier John Galliano. Built from our memory. Made for now. ”of a hate crime in 2011 after a series of racist and antisemitic rants, with an exhibition of his work at the Met and a corresponding Met gala – a juggernaut of popular culture viewed by billions globally online.
The exhibitionbut had it gone ahead, it would have been only the third time such an honour had been bestowed on a living designer. The only others being Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons in 2017.
The backlash to the plans were vehement and widespread, with Met patrons, New York politicians and prominent Jewish leaders objecting.labelled it a “terrible idea”, saying that “choosing this moment to glorify the life’s work of someone who was convicted of making antisemitic remarks … is downright bizarre”, and noting that “his infamous antisemitic rants were not an aberration”. In other quarters in the fashion industry, not least in Anna Wintour’s corner, support for Galliano has been similarly full-throated.
Many argue he has sufficiently atoned for his crimes. Others point out that it has been 15 years since Galliano, who was struggling with addiction at the time, committed them and that there ought to come a time for forgiveness. : “I remain fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the hurt I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities, and I remain deeply sorry for it.
” For Zara, says Orsola de Castro, designer and author, this is “the coup of their career, their life, their brand”. Fashion critic Philippe Pourhashemi agrees: “For Zara it’s still a major coup that they managed to get on board.
“That’s a really, really big thing because if we really look at it from a rational point of view, it doesn’t really make sense that someone like him would work with a platform like that. ” More tangibly, there are logistics.
The collection, which was shot by acclaimed fashion photographer Steven Meisel, has been years – and a lot of money – in the making and for some, even in the immediate wake of the Met cancellation, Zara following suit was an unrealistic prospect. Online, and in the form of queues outside the Zara store on Bond Street on Thursday morning, Galliano has been working elsewhere in the fashion industry for years.
Sacked by Dior in 2011, by 2013 he had returned to work, doing. From 2014 onwards he spent a decade as creative director of Margiela, bowing out on a final show in 2024 that was. His designs have continued to appear even on the Met Gala red carpet: in 2024 Kim Kardashian wore a chainmail, corseted Galliano creation to walk the steps. The venerable Met and the high street are different beasts.
Zara, which is owned by Inditex, the largest fashion retailer in the world, is a fast fashion brand.
“Zara has done a really good job at whitewashing its image, and Galliano is also a part of that,” says Pourhashemi. Why the Met’s John Galliano reversal shocked the fashion world: ‘There hadn’t been this much excitement since camp’In terms of grappling with Galliano’s past, according to fashion expert and historian Tony Glenville: “His antisemitism and problems are something that in discussions I suspect they just thought, ‘this is fashion and we want his name on some clothes,’ simply a business deal.
” Fashion as an industry isn’t inherently known for its ethics. Zara will be hoping that it bolsters its perceived fashion chops. The collection, prices for which run from £17.99 to £699, is being positioned as a dialogue between Galliano and the Zara archive – conceived from archival Zara garments, it will be produced in all new materials, rather than pre-existing stock.
The collection is also being seen as a pitch by Zara to be seen as the brand of affordable luxury. In the age of Shein, Temu, Primark and supermarket fashion, it is, according to Pourhashemi, “vital, from a business standpoint, for Zara to distance itself”. It will also be hoping to differentiate itself from its own cut-price brand,. For Glenville, “all this is Inditex leaving the bottom price line to Lefties to do the hard work – and elevating Zara”.
For Zara the move is likely more about reputation than actual sales.
“It’s an absolute hook to draw us in,” says Glenville, noting that many garments from these designer collaborations never actually make it to the shop floor. Galliano is known for his theatrical, storybook designs, not for clothes that are inherently wearable. The designs are inspired by characters fromGalliano has signed a two-year contract, so the stakes are relatively low.
“If he does a couple of collections a year in small quantities, they get the cachet without too much risk,” says Glenville. “If it’s phenomenally successful, they’ll extend his contract. ”US fashion CEO resigns after physically restraining animal rights activistsDesigner John Galliano to get unvarnished Met retrospective in MayDeath of the gatekeeper: Devil Wears Prada 2 depicts a revolution in the fashion world‘From high flyer to dead parrot’: former billion-dollar eco-shoe brand Allbirds sold for $39m
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump Rejects New AI Regulations After White House Tech Leaders Sign Self-Policing PactPresident Donald Trump met with nearly two dozen tech executives at the White House, signed a morally binding self-regulation agreement, and rejected new AI regulations, saying existing laws and industry self-policing are enough.
Read more »
Bill Gates predicts AI will kill a billion people – but saying he’s been wrong before is quite the understatementHe knows a thing or two about tech, but what to make of the views of a man who met Jeffrey Epstein 30 times and couldn’t see what a monster he was?
Read more »
Met recommends charging 54 people, 20 organisations over Grenfell blazeAlmost a decade since London's Grenfell Tower fire disaster, police have asked prosecutors to consider charging 54 people and 20 organisations over the blaze, which killed 72 people.
Read more »
‘Terrible look’: Pep breaks silence over City scandal as ‘slavish’ reply pours fuel over outrage‘Terrible look’: Pep breaks silence over City scandal as ‘slavish’ reply pours fuel over outrage
Read more »