John Galliano returns to high-end fashion with new role

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29506035

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British designer John Galliano is to return to high-end fashion as creative director of French fashion house Maison Martin Margiela.

Mr Galliano had been keeping a low profile since he was sacked from Christian Dior in 2011, after a video of him using anti-Semitic language in a drunken tirade was released.

He is currently creative director at Russian perfumery chain L'Etoile.

He also spent a three-week stint at designer Oscar de La Renta last year.

"Margiela is ready for a new charismatic, creative soul," Renzo Rosso, whose OTB group controls the house, told industry journal Women's Wear Daily.

"John Galliano is one of the greatest undisputed talents of all time. I look forward to his return to create that fashion dream that only he can create," he added.

The 53-year-old designer is considered to be one of the most influential designers of his age and has been awarded the title of British Fashion Designer of the Year four times.

He spent 15 years at Dior, but was sacked after footage of his drunken tirade was released.

A Paris criminal court found him guilty of proffering anti-Semitic insults in public, an offence under French law, on two occasions in February 2011 and October 2010.

Mr Galliano apologised and blamed his actions on drink and drugs.