Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Fashion Industry Is Overwhelmingly Sympathetic Towards John Galliano
John Galliano will go to trial in France, sometime before June, for allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks to a couple in a Paris café. Sure to be used as evidence in the case is a video that later emerged showing the designer saying, "I love Hitler," and other egregious things. Galliano has denied accusations of anti-Semitism and reportedly entered rehab in Arizona, but surely, this is a calamity which no career can recover from?
Perhaps not. After all, the fashion world is notoriously forgiving of bad behavior — it's not so long ago that Terry Richardson escaped accusations of sexual misconduct on photo shoots completely unscathed. Even as the fashion world chatters over who will replace Galliano at Dior, many of the industry's highest-ranking members — from designers to editors to critics — have been anything but swift to dismiss him, calling him a victim of industry pressure and a predatory camera phone. With so many influential defenders, there seems at least a chance that Galliano will be able to return to fashion one day. Below, a compilation of reactions, from outright condemnation to forgiveness.
No Excuses
Natalie Portman, the face of a Dior fragrance: "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." [StyleList]
Karl Lagerfeld: "I’m furious, if you want to know. I’m furious that it could happen, because the question is no longer even whether he really said it. 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. This is what makes me crazy in that story. 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’m furious with him because of the harm he did to LVMH and [chairman and ceo] Bernard Arnault, who is a friend, and who supported him more than he supported any other designer in his group, because Dior is his favorite label. It’s as if he had his child hurt." [WWD]
British Vogue's Alexandra Shulman: "I think Galliano made a terrible mistake and such offensive behavior could not be ignored. It is all the same true that he has a huge talent and has contributed enormously to the resurrection of the house of Dior." [WWD
Terrible, But Tragic
WWD's Bridget Foley: "The moment that video surfaced, everyone knew Galliano had to go. His undoing reads as all the more tragic because he fell victim not to miscreants with phones — note to famous people: Everybody has one — but to self-destruction, perhaps rooted in issues about which we know nothing," she adds, wondering if the death of Steven Robinson, who worked at Galliano's side for 20 years, had something to do with his outburst. "Who knows what other sadness may have happened in his life? But not even a mild-mannered creative genius can get a pass on this one." [WWD]
Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune: "While the vile statements seen coming from Mr. Galliano’s drunken lips on the Internet video deserved the nearly-universal condemnation they were receiving, there is pathos in the vision of one of the world’s most famous — and best paid — designers alone, clutching a glass in a bar. The pressure from fast fashion and from the instant Internet age to create new things constantly has worn down other famous names. Marc Jacobs, design director of Louis Vuitton, ended a wild streak in rehab. Calvin Klein famously rambled across a sports pitch and admitted to substance abuse. And the late Yves Saint Laurent spent a lifetime fighting his demons." [IHT]
Hilary Alexander of the Guardian wrote that she's never seen the side of Galliano captured in that camera phone footage. "[O]ne thing is certain: he needs help," she adds. "I am not for a moment excusing his behaviour. There will come a time when he must confront the viper in his breast. But, right now, this is a moment in his life when he needs support and love from the industry he has given his life to." [Telegraph UK]
Model Jessica Stam tweeted: "I'll miss you John, you're so talented." And: "I love the Jews and what he said is awful, but also sad to watch him leave Dior." Also: "I believe every human being on this earth was created equal. I also don't turn my back on my friends when they're in a dark place #Galliano." [Jess_Stam/Twitter]
He Was Provoked
Diane Von Furstenberg: "Clearly I as a daughter of a Holocaust survivor I find what he said absolutely unacceptable." She would not comment on whether or not Dior should have fired Galliano, but added, "I think he was provoked and he clearly was not in anormal state." [Gayle King Show]
Italian Vogue's Franca Sozzani: "I am against and I condemn any kind of racism or any behavior that shows disrespect toward any religion. But I would like to say that I’m just as disgusted by these people who saw what state John was in and took advantage of the situation by trading on his name and notoriety... While I condemn John’s words, I think they were said in a certain moment when he wasn’t lucid. I am frightened by how quick these young people were to try to gain notoriety or money while destroying the image of a genius." [Vogue.It]
Giorgio Armani: "I'm very, very sorry for him. It's obviously a difficult time for him. I'm also very sorry that they even videotaped him without him knowing and now that's all out." [Telegraph UK]
Jean Paul Gaultier: "It's sad, because he's an enormous talent," the designer said. "Everything he has done has not revealed someone who is racist -- quite to the contrary." Gaultier also questioned the validity of the tape: "With recordings, people can be made to say things that they did not say," he said. "They pronounce some words, but what is the context? ...The person (speaking to Galliano) seems very assured, knowing very well what she is doing." [AFP]
Not an Anti-Semite
Stylist Patricia Field posted a message lauding Galliano to her Facebook wall. She later told WWD: "John lives in theater. It’s theater. It’s farce. But people in fashion don’t recognize the farce in it. All of a sudden they don’t know him. But it’s OK when it’s Mel Brooks’ ‘The Producers’ singing Springtime for Hitler." And then clarified in Radar: "Look, I'm not saying that anti-Semitism is acceptable in any way, because it is not. But I honestly believe that until the judicial process runs its course, any judgements should not be made so quickly." [WWD, Radar Online]
Purple's Olivier Zahm: "[H]is drunken anti-Semitic tirade seems to be more of a desperate cry, a public suicide, a hardcore Brit-punk provocation, than an affirmation of any racist convictions," he wrote on his blog. "I mainly harbor a great sadness for John Galliano because this unfortunate incident (and once again, intolerable) marks for him a sudden end — one that is unworthy of his rare talent and his extraordinary sense of mise-en-scène." He added that if Galliano could prove he didn't mean what he said, "the entire fashion world would be able to come back [to his] side." [purpleDIARY]
Model Chanel Iman: "I love John Galliano. I’ve been working with him for years and he is one of the most amazing, genius men in this business," she said at a Victoria's Secret event last week. "He is one of the most creative, genius designers that I’ve worked with and he’s so open to all types of people. He’s loving and he’s caring and I wish him all the best." [Hollywood Life]
Roberto Cavalli: "I don't believe it because I know John since many years. He's such a wonderful person. I can't believe that he makes some racist toward somebody, because he's so international," he said. "I think that somebody wants to try to be bad with him. I think la Maison Dior should make to him a big red carpet because he helped Maison Dior to be what it is today. I don't want to judge anybody, but I love John. John, I am with you." [ thx to Telegraph UK]
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