Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ)
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s planned 2027 Costume Institute exhibition, John Galliano: Horizons, has been cancelled, following Galliano’s statement that “it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time”.
The exhibition was intended to provide a retrospective of the British designer’s highly influential, four-decade career.
But Galliano, and the museum, faced intense opposition centred on whether the Met should devote a retrospective to a designer whose legacy is closely linked to racist and antisemitic remarks.
Galliano has been an undeniably influential force in fashion. How should this influence be remembered?
A designer who transformed the industry
After graduating from London’s Central Saint Martins in 1984, Galliano emerged as one of the most innovative voices in British fashion. His graduate collection, Les Incroyables and Les Merveilleuses was inspired by post-French revolutionists. He would remain a designer whose shows tell complete and fully developed stories.
With his eponymous brand gaining continued success, he was the first British designer to head a French Haute Couture house when he became Givenchy’s creative director in 1995. He then became the creative director of Dior in October 1996, a position he held until he was unceremoniously let go in 2011.
During his time at both luxury houses, and at the helm of his own brand, Galliano redefined the role of the luxury creative director by turning his runways into grand spectacles.
He treated fashion shows like live theatre, with models acting as characters. He, too, relished in stardom, taking theatrical bows dressed in full costume (such as a matador or astronaut) at the end of his shows.
He was a modern re-interpreter of brand heritage, as he remixed historic house codes within contemporary silhouettes. This was extremely successful at Dior, which soared under his creative vision.
Celebrated for his eye for grandeur, intricate detailing and powerful storytelling, he was named British designer of the year at the British Fashion Awards four times: in 1987, 1994 1995 and 1997.
But his role as a designer would soon become overshadowed.
A career marred by controversy
In February 2011, while in a bar in Paris, Galliano reportedly shouted insults including calling patrons a “fucking ugly Jewish bitch” and a “fucking Asian bastard”. In a separate video, he was filmed saying “I love Hitler”. More video was released in the 2024 documentary High & Low, John Galliano.
Later that year he was convicted by a French court of “public insults” based on origin, religion, race or ethnicity. At the time, Galliano blamed his behaviour on addiction to alcohol, sleeping tablets and Valium.
In the years since, Galliano has apologised and spoken publicly about addiction and recovery, and attempted to rebuild his career through fashion brand Maison Margiela, which he departed in 2024.
He is currently working with the fast fashion brand Zara to “re-author” work in their collection.
But despite continuing to get work, any discussion of Galliano’s career today inevitably returns to those 2011 events.
What would a Galliano retrospective have meant?
A museum retrospective is not merely a display of objects. It is institutional recognition that signals to academics, audiences, and to future generations, that a person or their body of work holds enduring cultural, historical or artistic significance.
At the same time, it is the role of museums to engage with difficult histories.
In the cancellation announcement, curator Andrew Bolton described museums as having a responsibility to examine “difficult histories with rigour, candour and care”.
Even though he supported the cancellation, he maintained that institutions play an important role in engaging with challenging subjects.
A more critically framed retrospective could have explored not only Galliano’s influence on fashion design, but also the circumstances of his fall and subsequent attempts at rehabilitation. It could have confronted visitors with difficult questions about artists, harm and accountability.
Why the Met Gala complicates things
This controversy cannot be separated from the Met Gala. Each year, the gala is linked to the institute’s major spring exhibition – its subject becoming part of a global media spectacle.
Since 1995, the event has been overseen by Anna Wintour, Vogue’s global editorial director and Met museum trustee. Wintour described Galliano’s decision to withdraw the exhibition as “very courageous and a measure of the man he is” – a comment reflecting her longstanding support for the designer.
Wintour was instrumental in orchestrating his return to fashion via a residency at Oscar de la Renta’s studio in 2013. De la Renta himself said Galliano was “one of the most talented men” he’d ever met, and that he believed “everyone should have a second chance, especially someone as talented as John”.
This isn’t the first time the Met Gala has been the site of backlash and controversy. Similar contentions arose when Karl Lagerfeld, a problematic figure for his fat-phobic, racist and misogynistic comments, was announced as the focus of the 2023 exhibition.
The most recent gala in May was also a criticised for being co-chaired and sponsored by ostentatious tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez.
Galliano remains a historically influential designer through his body of work. But recognising his influence cannot mean ignoring the harm caused by his behaviour.
Perhaps the more useful question is not whether people should engage with Galliano’s work, but how. Viewing his work today requires recognising both his influence on fashion, and the harm caused by his actions.
The challenge for museums and audiences alike is learning how to hold and critique both realities. The cancelled exhibition suggests this remains one of the most difficult cultural questions of our time.
Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/09/03/john-gallianos-met-gala-exhibition-was-cancelled-but-his-influence-on-fashion-cant-be-erased/