In 2009, I told MrB that I didn’t care if I never went to another fashion show except for those of my personal friends … and, of course, those of Alexander McQueen, John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld. I had to see those three. Hmmm. An evil fairy must have put a curse on that statement. Suddenly, I fear for Karl’s well-being! Thankfully, Lagerfeld responded sanely to LVMH’s swift dismissal of Galliano as designer of Christian Dior in the wake of Galliano’s “I love Hitler” video. In WWD, Karl says, in part:
“The image has gone around the world. It’s a horrible image for fashion, because they think that every designer and everything in fashion is like this. … The thing is, we are a business world where, especially today, with the Internet, one has to be more careful than ever, especially if you are a publicly known person. You cannot go in the street and be drunk — there are things you cannot do.”
I also applaud new Oscar winner and Miss Dior Cherie spokeswoman Natalie Portman’s strong statement of revulsion. I much prefer her response to those of people who would blame the messenger or compare Galliano’s unfunny drunk tirade to the highlarious song “Springtime for Hitler” from The Producers.
I do believe the many people who say that they’ve never heard an anti-Semitic peep from Galliano until now. He probably never got drunk enough around them to reveal that part of himself. Veteran fashion writer Suzy Menkes quotes Victoire de Castellane, Dior’s jewelry designer, as saying, “It’s terrible and pathetic at the same time. I never knew that he had such thoughts in him. Or that he so needed help.” It reminds me of what people say about Mel Gibson in this recent Vanity Fair story on Gibson’s hateful statements and alcohol abuse. Still, according to WWD’s executive editor Bridget Foley, it was known in-house that Galliano’s drinking was out of control. “He was encouraged, and refused, to get help,” she says. Well, he’ll have plenty of time to explore rehab options now.
Last year, gorgeous blogger Liz of It’s Unbeweavable, asked me to name my favorite fashion show. I said that I wished I could get in a time machine and attend Galliano’s Spring 1995 show.
I’ll never be able to see images from that show again without remembering Galliano’s fuckery. Maybe he was an anti-Semitic asshat back then, too, but at least we didn’t know it. As many people have said, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
I am so sad by this. I feel like it’s, in some ways, the end of fashion. Galliano is in a dying breed of uber-creative designers – as you say, up there with Karl Lagerfeld and the late Alexander McQueen. But his comments were horrifying.
Glad to read another sane post on this subject- for a while it felt like the fashion world had gone mad with people climbing over each other to defend him or dismiss his comments as the ramblings of a drunk. That Patricia Field article is an eye-opener… I wonder if anyone will boycott her as well for condoning his actions?
What a mess this whole thing is. Thanks for lightening up the mood with springtime for Hitler. Always cracks me up.
Every so often, I get that song stuck in my head for days at a time. I’m always terrified that I will start singing it out loud. Hmmm…maybe John G. can try to pass off his bad behavior as a drunken sing-along?
Rehab shmehab. There’s just no excuse. Miss J has known her share of drunks who managed to get hammered and never go on racist tirades. Only the racist drunks do that.
Ha! Good point.
Ha. This is so true.
Well said–that was exactly how I felt when I read Suzy Menkes’s article. “Oh poor tortured creative genius…the stress of the fashion industry just got to him, it’s a cruel relentless mill that grinds you up and spits you out.” Whatever. It’s one thing to be stressed out or have breakdowns or substance abuse problems, quite another to be a racist. These things aren’t correlated!
Your final quote says it all. This has saddened me on many levels. Xxxx
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt”
I co-sign, Wendy!!!!!
I’m sure his feelings have always been there, just well disguised. It’s amazing how often drinking to excess reveals the true person inside. xxx
This whole thing is just so upsetting, mostly because he is such a creative genius and I always loved looking at his clothes and dreaming of them. But really, the comments are horrible. I feel like a bubble has been burst.
I’m sure that the people around him knew his opinions. They had to know, A public person in a stressful position can’t hide these things from those working around him. The LVMH executives must have been cringing for years hoping that his racist attitude would never be seen by the public.
I would believe that… yet I also believe people are capable of anything, including hiding all kinds of insanity.
Amen, amen, amen.
It’s one thing to be louche, drunk, or disorderly. It’s quite another to open one’s mouth in the midst of a bender and vomit hatred and imperiousness to the degree which Galliano has. While he is an undeniable talent, his delusion, self-absorption, and his reviling rant are disgusting and unforgivable. I am elated that the house of Dior took swift measures and immediately dethroned Galliano. He is a buffoon.
••V••
http://www.gritandglamour.com
@gritandglamour
Totally agree, nothing can excuse his awful comments. But…I’m wondering if there is more to this story. I think people need to separate his work and his personal life/views. It would be sad if his beautiful work could not still be appreciated in years to come
I still appreciate his past work…but it will be impossible to view the work/think of him without remembering how he wrecked his career.
All I have to say is, what a f***ing idiot!
What’s scary to me is that so much of the world still thinks like this. Galliano was just foolish enough to say it in public. But there are many -whom walk among us – that have the exact same mentality!
Hi my dear-a great post about a sad and sorry situation. It is such a shame he didn’t seek the professional help he was offered before it got to this stage-its still hopefully not too late for him, unless he is on a self destruct course x
“professional help” does not get rid of facsist/racist beliefs. it might curb him from drinking so excessively. this obviously would have stopped him from admitting to the world he’s an idiotic self absorbed asshole, but his demeaning mindset will always still be there. it was just the booze that made it obvious to everyone.
I hope that he takes advantage of his newly cleared schedule and gets HELP! I do believe in forgiveness and second chances, but only if the person apologizes and atones for their behavior. What a disgrace.
I was so pissed when I saw what’s-her-face from Vogue Italia killing the messenger. Give me a break!
It really is sad though. He was one of my favorite fanciful designers – creating things of dreams and royal spectacle.
Fascinating that Lagerfeld’s focus in the WWD article is not condemning Galliano’s anti-semitism, but his sloppiness, so to speak, in behaving like an asshole bigot in these modern days of new media and technology.
I think that’s very Karl. And I don’t really disagree. Who knows what goes on in anyone’s mind/heart? All kinds of people are capable of thinking all kinds of foul thoughts yet not expressing them. It really goes back to the “fool” maxim.
Exactly, the master of the image, Mr. Lagerfeld. And I would chose to not get inside the heads of my favorite artists, thanks! I just want to enjoy their pictures, books, and clothes.
Karl has major self-control.
And agreed re the artists!
I love your word verifications!
Moving on, I just finished reading the WWD article and I\’m perplexed as to why Pat Field thinks the video is a farce. Out of character or not, he said what he said and must deal with the consequences
Well, he’s supposedly checked into rehab, and issued one of those non-apology apologies. What a schmuck!
I agree with belle de ville. Were LVMH executives cringing for the sake of profit instead of sacking him years ago?
The inside of a human mind is a freak show no one should have to witness, but I don’t think most people’s foul thoughts include fantasizing about gassing Jews.
“I don’t think most people’s foul thoughts include fantasizing about gassing Jews.” — I’m starting to worry that more people’s thoughts include that than I ever thought!
Dear Wendy, I went to the Spring 95 show. I have known John for a very long time and have always spoken out for his talent. It’s appalling that he said these things and has ruined a glittering career. Dior had no option and did the right thing. I feel sorry for the PR’s at Dior. What a nightmare! xx
So lucky you were at that show! I have the Bazaar cover with Linda Evangelista wearing the yellow feather dress framed. Did John always seem like a reasonable man to you before this?
Galliano’s performance on that video was Repellant.
I had no idea people still thought and said this stuff in 2011.
One wonders what will happen to him next. Will there be a tell all interview? A book?
Wonder what Old Amanda Harlech makes of it.
Good for you Miss Wendy. The whole Vogue Italy display is just plain embarrassingg,unless he were to deny that it was he in the video, which he has not. (Honestly.) Set up? How do you set that up? Get someone drunk and hold up cue cards for him to read with those statements?! Really? What difference does it make if someone did or did not sit on the videotape for several months, it does not erase what was said.
It really saddens and enrages me, for while I am nowhere near as cool as the rest of the kids in the class, I have always appreciated his talent and what he did for the House. What a waste, in so many ways.
Love your candor,
tp
LOL @ the cue cards. Cue cards held be Charlie Sheen, most likely!
Couldn’t have said it better.
The rush to defend leaves me feeling distinctly uneasy. And no doubt it will continue until he is ‘reborn’ somewhere else. It’s inevitable. Those with real principles, morals and long memories are few and far between in the fashion world.
A brilliantly well-written blog, thank you Wendy.
Miss Peelpants, I have utmost respect for your comment and completely agree, but I really, really wish it was just the fashion world that was blessed with the onus of a short memory. If only our US population could keep utmost in their memory the abominations of certain so-called financial experts and industries and their practices in recent years past.
Oh I’ve been waiting for you to post on this, Wendy. Thank you. here in New Zealand it all seems very far away – except when some asshat suggests that our (Jewish-born) prime minister has links to ‘international finance’ etc etc and pretends to have no clue as to why that’s not acceptable. What a pity we have to reconsider our enjoyment of his art – but there’s enough wonderful art in the world for me to not be supporting anti-semitism. Let’s make sure his comments are not written off as drunken ramblings.
Karl L’s response and that of others was not surprising. They just dont want to stir shit up and put the spot light on themselves. The thing is, if he didn’t have this problem, would he still have said these things? I mean, he did counter sue, but does he have a foot on this any more? I dont think so. Your problems are bound to catch up to you along with your demons. What he did is unacceptable, period.
This is all so horrid. I can’t say that I understand any of it, why would JG say these rotten things in public or at all. Such a fucking disaster. It’s hard to believe that he is a nasty racist. There must be more to it besides being wasted.
Thank you for this post, Wendy. I was deeply disturbed by Galliano’s hateful comments but even more so by the subdued response of the fashion community, many of whom seemed to be defending Galliano and shooting the messenger as you say. Bloggers like yourself seemed to be the only ones taking a stand. Natalie Portman had the right idea and I actually believe he should be charged for inciting hatred. It is a criminal offence and free speech stops when others are being harmed. If anyone is in doubt they need only look it up in the criminal code. Even the U.S. who hold free speech highly have laws against using speech to incite hatred against a specific group.
You do not even have to be Jewisth to have been hurt by Hitler. My father was born in London during world war two and lost all his adult male relatives in the war that Hitler started. He slept in a bomb shelter for the first three years of his life so he would survive in the event that the house fell down around him during an ambush in the night.
People cannot be allowed to walk around saying things like “I love Hitler.” We must never forget or it could happen again.
This is why I love your blog, Wendy! Nicely stated. I still want to give Michael Richards a swift kick in the ass everytime I watch Seinfeld. These people do irreparable damage with their words.
When I see reruns of Seinfeld, even the funniest ones, I still think of that Michael Richards crap.
His statements and behavior were appalling.
Wow – perfectly said! I have always thought that a person’s true nature is revealed when they are drunk – the very unfortunate Mel Gibson was my previous example – now I have another perfect example. What a shame. And what a disgrace.
Sarah xxx