John Galliano joins Martin Margiela: a 'second chance' for fashion's most controversial designer
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Version 0 of 1. John Galliano has been confirmed as the new creative director of Martin Margiela. The news broke on Monday through Womenswear Daily, with an official announcement released soon after. Renzo Rosso, the president of Margiela’s parent company OTB, said: “Margiela is ready for a new charismatic creative soul … 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.” His first collection for Margiela will be the artisanal line, shown in Paris during couture week in January. This is the Gibraltar-born, British designer’s first appointment since his fall from grace in 2011, following racist and anti-semitic remarks to fellow customers at a Paris cafe. The incidents saw him sacked from Christian Dior, where he had been creative director for 15 years, and retreat from the wider fashion world to address substance abuse issues. In the last three years, he has emerged at various points, such as to design Kate Moss’ wedding dress in 2011 and, in 2013, to work on a collection for Oscar de la Renta. This year saw a rather more obscure project – in May he became creative director of Russian perfume brand L’Etoile. Rosso has long been an admirer of Galliano and, in addition to Moss, the 53-year-old designer has retained other influential supporters inside the industry – with many of them taking to social media today. i-D magazine said it “put a spring in our step this morning” while Project Runway judge Nina Garcia tweeted “So happy! The world of fashion really needs John’s talent and everyone deserves a second chance.” This second chance comes at a label which is itself entering a new era. Though he gave the brand his name when he launched it in 1989, Martin Margiela was famously secretive and designed collections while remaining entirely out of the limelight. He is believed to have retired soon after OTB – which also owns Diesel, the brand Rosso founded – bought Margiela in 2002. With a design team in charge since then, adding a big personality like Galliano – who, for his end-of-show bows at Dior, dressed up as a pirate or an astronaut – is bound to shake things up. Controversy aside, the fit between the two isn’t the most natural. Since graduating from Central Saint Martins in London in 1984, Galliano – famously active on the club scene in London – has stood for fashion from a fantastical perspective, with historical muses like socialite Madame X and Madame de Pompadour on the mood board. Margiela, by contrast, comes from a conceptual stand point described as “non-standard elegance” with signature four white stitches on the back of a garment in place of a flashy label. When it comes to aesthetics, it’s opulence versus austere. Where the Venn diagram crosses over is craft. To make the fantastical creations at Dior – with the corsets, flounces and full skirts of period dressing – Galliano has an impressive skill set honed by working with some of Paris’ best ‘petites mains’. This will appeal to Margiela, where the white muslin for toiles (blueprints of the clothes) was once used for a collection, and the construction of clothes remains a trope. While the big-budget blow-out occasions of Dior shows under Galliano are unlikely to be repeated, the January 2015 show of Galliano for Margiela – a new chapter for man and brand – will be eagerly awaited. The lead-up to the show, meanwhile, will allow Margiela fans to react to the news of this appointment. |