John Galliano has revealed in an Instagram post that he is leaving Maison Margiela after 10 years at the label.
His exit follows the internet-breaking show he presented for the brand in January, which, at the time, no one knew would be his last.
Sharing the news on Instagram, Galliano wrote a lengthy two-page post, in which he hinted that the reasons behind his departure will become clear in time, and did not disclose what move is next for him.
Part of the post, shared on Wednesday, read: ‘Today is the day I say Goodbye to Maison Margiela.
‘My heart overflows with joyous gratitude, and my soul smiles.
‘For I am 14 years old today-14 years sober.
‘Living a life better than I ever dreamt possible, and this is thanks to two people-two truly beautiful people whom I both love and cherish. They, however, are too humble to allow me to mention their names here. We know who they are, and I will be forever indebted to them, forever grateful.
‘The rumors… Everyone wants to know, and everyone wants to dream. When the time is right, all will be revealed.’
John Galliano, who has stepped down as creative director of Martin Margiela, is pictured walking the runway during the Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2003 fashion show in Paris
Margiela appointed Galliano as creative director in 2014. The post followed his scandal-ridden exit from Dior in 2011, when he was dropped for hurling anti-Semitic insults at a group of Jewish women in a Paris bar.
While the designer has lead a very glamorous life, rubbing shoulders with A-listers and supermodels on the red carpet, Galliano has also struggled with addiction, alcoholism and substance abuse.
The designer’s life, scandals and triumphant return to Paris Couture Fashion Week, were chronicled in the documentary High & Low: John Galliano, directed by Oscar-winning Kevin Macdonald, and released in March this year on Amazon Prime.
His work at Martin Margiela has been widely praised, not least by the brand’s chairman Renzo Rosso, who released a statement about Galliano’s departure.
In it, he said: ‘Working with John was one of the most significant and impactful experiences of my life. He mentored me and showed me his vision, enriching me culturally and allowing me to bring some of that vision and culture to the rest of the Group.
‘I feel privileged to have worked with two legends like Martin [Margiela] and John. Martin made this house a reference and an icon, John made it the most cutting-edge couture house in the world.’
Under Galliano’s creative directorship, Margiela’s sales grew 23 per cent in 2023, after increasing 24 per cent in the 2021-2022 period.
The brand has also enjoyed increased awareness amid customers, and on social media.
The design talent, who experienced a fall from grace after being filmed making anti-semitic comments is pictured in France in 2008
This success will likely come as no surprise to those who are familiar with Galliano’s work – from Rihanna’s papal-inspired Met Gala look to Kate Moss’ wedding dress, some of the most famous moments of 21st Century fashion have come from his brilliant mind.
Raised the child of a plumber, in south London, Galliano says he was inspired by his Spanish mother, who dressed him and his sisters in immaculately pressed and starched clothes whenever they left the family home.
At the age of 16, he left school to study textile design at East London College, before enrolling at the prestigious St Martin’s School of Art in 1980.
He worked as a dresser at the National Theatre and threw himself into the London club scene – experiences that undoubtedly imprinted his design aesthetic.
After starting an eponymous line in the 1980s, Galliano was appointed as the designer of Givenchy in 1996.
He soon transitioned to Dior, before being spectacularly fired after he was filmed expressing admiration for Hitler and telling a woman, who he thought was Jewish, that her parents should have been gassed.
Heavily intoxicated, he then allegedly ranted to an Asian man sitting with her: ‘****ing Asian b******’.
During his one-day trial in June 2011, Galliano admitted two instances of making anti-Semitic and racist comments and, that September, was given two suspended fines, totalling 6,000 euros.
LEAVING: Galliano shared a long post on Instagram explaining that he was stepping down from Martin Margiela, signing it ‘Johnny G’
Galliano’s lawyer cited his struggles with drugs, alcohol and work, noting that he was designing up to 32 collections each year.
Additionally, he was ordered to pay three plaintiffs and five antidiscrimination groups 1 euro each in damages and a combined 16,500 euros in costs.
Face of Dior, Natalie Portman, was among those outraged by his outburst more than two decades ago.
At the time, the Oscar-winning actress said: ‘In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr Galliano in any way.
‘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.’
Galliano consistently maintained that he is not anti-Semitic or racist but acknowledged struggling with addiction to alcohol, Valium and sleeping tablets, leading him to seek rehabilitation.
It seems that this was the tip of the iceberg for Galliano, who had a string of drunken indiscretions to his name.
Years earlier, coming off the high of another Fashion Week, Galliano stripped naked and spent four hours in a lift at The Ritz, telling guests who tried to enter that he was a lion, while growling at them.
John Galliano walks the runway at the end of the Dior show as part of the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2011 at Musee Rodin on July 5, 2010
The hotel called his office in Paris, who offered to cover the bills of any guests who had become inconvenienced.
In the documentary released earlier this year, he admitted his demons, Galliano beginning the documentary by saying: ‘I’m going to tell you everything’ – from dealing with his devout Catholic parents’ horrified reaction to his homosexuality to his abuse of Valium, bromides, amphetamines and sleeping pills.
‘I was committing suicide, slowly,’ he said.
He also revealed struggles with his workload and depression following the deaths of his father and close friends Steven Robinson and Alexander McQueen.
Despite his explanations, the fallout from Galliano’s rant resulted in the termination of his 15-year tenure as creative director at Dior – where he was earning £4 million-a-year.
The designer was exiled from fashion – yet only temporarily – and he designed Kate Moss’ wedding dress the same year, calling the project his ‘creative rehab’.
In an interview with WWD, Kevin Macdonald recalled being in New York when videos of Galliano’s anti-Semantic outburst emerged online.
‘I was kind of repulsed by him and the way he looked,’ the film director said.
‘I have lost family in the Holocaust and my grandfather’s family all died.
‘That’s a part of why I felt a personal repulsion, but at the same time, I’m always interested in films about ambiguous characters who you’re not quite sure what to think of them.’
A number of John Galliano’s friends and former employees share their thoughts on-screen, including Anna Wintour, Naomi Campbell, Charlize Theron, Amanda Harlech and Kate Moss.
‘We’re both shy and a bit awkward, ’til we’ve had a drink,’ Moss says, chuckling.
The supermodel starred in Galliano’s first show in Paris, admitting ‘I was so nervous’.
She goes on to explain that Galliano, now a good friend, taught her how to walk down the catwalk: ‘He said put your hips and your pelvis forwards… and lean back.
‘No one gives you direction like John, there was always a story in every show. It’s fantasy, and that’s what fashion should be.’
‘He’d say, “You’re a princess and you’ve just escaped the castle… and the walls are after you. You’ve got to run Kate, run!”‘
Edward Enninful, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, adds: ‘For other designers, they were just models. But with John, they became actresses.
‘He would take them on a journey, through countries, through time. And they would come up feeling so enthused, so excited.’
There is also an appearance from Philippe Virgitti, the target of the designer’s anti-Semitic comments.
During the 2011 court hearing in Paris, Virgitti stated: ‘I don’t think he’s racist or anti-Semitic. I just think he’s very ill.’
However, in the documentary, he explains how Galliano’s verbal attack has negatively impacted his life – and does not forgive him.
Galliano insists that he apologised to Virgitti, but Virgitti denies this.
‘There is no real explanation for the designer’s behaviour. His psychiatrist believes he looked, at random, for a hateful stereotype in our culture,’ he says.
Meanwhile, Sidney Toledano, the Jewish boss of Dior, suggested that anti-Semitism could have been weaved into his Catholic upbringing.
The film also showed a clip of the designer the day after his father’s funeral in 2003, where Galliano’s voice appeared slurred, and his pupils gigantic, as he prepared for his next fashion show.
Following a two-month stay at Cottonwood Rehab Clinic in Arizona, Galliano briefly joined Oscar de la Renta in New York.
The move was reportedly arranged by Anna Wintour, American Vogue editor-in-chief, and Jonathan Newhouse, chairman of Conde Nast International.
Mr Newhouse is also said to have put Galliano in contact with Rabbi Barry Marcus, who, at the time, was the senior minister of Central Synagogue in London.
Rabbi Marcus educated the designer in antisemitism, introduced him to a Holocaust survivor and invited him to services at his synagogue.
‘Over time, we built up a relationship and I’m absolutely satisfied that to brand him as an antisemite would be an injustice,’ the rabbi explained.
‘His knowledge of Jews and Judaism was actually very limited.’
John Galliano walks the runway during the Christian Dior Fall/Winter 2002-2003 fashion show at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week
Edward Enninful (L) and John Galliano attend a drinks reception ahead of The Fashion Awards 2017 in partnership with Swarovski at Royal Albert Hall on December 4, 2017
In 2014, John Galliano was appointed creative director of Belgian brand Maison Margiela, which described him as one of the ‘greatest undisputed talents of all time’.
‘Margiela is ready for a new charismatic creative soul,’ said Renzo Rosso, president of the label’s parent company OTB, in a statement.
‘John Galliano is one of the greatest, undisputed talents of all time. A unique, exceptional couturier for a Maison that always challenged and innovated the world of fashion.
‘I look forward to his return to create that fashion dream that only he can create, and wish him to here find his new home.’
Now he has left the brand, Renzo Rosso, chairman of Maison Margiela said in a statement: ‘Our industry has a habit of thinking in decades and these 10 years of incredibly intense work, amazing shows and installations, extraordinarily beautiful product, have laid the foundations for the future of Maison Margiela which I am very excited about.
‘I wish my dear friend John the best of everything, and I know that there will be other projects for us to collaborate in the future.’
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