Photo: Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
John Galliano is departing from Maison Margiela after 10 years as the brand’s creative director.
In late July, Astrid Wendlandt of Paris-based media company Miss Tweed first reported that Galliano chose not to renew his five-year contract with Maison Margiela (ending in October, per the report, but the designer seems to have stayed on until this week). He wrote in a statement posted to Instagram Wednesday, “Today is the day I say goodbye to Maison Margiela.”
He continued, “My heart overflows with joyous gratitude, and my soul smiles…Gratitude to my fashion family for this life-saving creative moment and the safe place we have built together. My teams, whose support has been tender and courageous, have walked with me along this narrow pathway to the here and now…I’ll readily admit I’m demanding and difficult to run with when challenged, but look at what we have built.”
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The partnership is certainly ending on a very high note. In January, Galliano’s final show, Maison Margiela Artisanal Spring 2024, broke the internet in several ways. Industry figures and fashion fans praised the presentation’s sculptural, body-modifying designs, use of movement direction, multi-disciplinary staging, technology, doll-like makeup and more. The show reignited a conversation about Galliano’s indisputable creative genius, as the story-driven performance reminded both in-person attendees and livestream viewers about the power of theatricality and world-building in fashion.
Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Galliano has been a big asset to Margiela financially, too: In 2023, its sales were up 23%, compared to the year prior, helping parent company OTB Group reach €348 million in earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation. (In 2022, its turnover rose 24% from the previous year; in 2021, it was up 25%.)
Galliano joined Margiela in 2014, and signed on for another five years in 2019. It’s said that Galliano’s leaving to return to Dior, where he was creative director from 1996 until 2011, when he was fired for making antisemitic and racist remarks. (He was found guilty of the incident in a French court and ordered to pay a fine. He would later sue Dior for unfair dismissal.)
This would be quite the culmination of a long image rehabilitation campaign, supported by influential figures such as Anna Wintour: Though he’s mostly remained out of the spotlight, even after taking over a house as influential as Margiela, he’s been making moves over the past year to re-enter the zeitgeist — first with a monumental haute couture show in January, followed by the release of a documentary charting his rise and fall and a strong presence on the 2024 Met Gala red carpet. (Though he didn’t walk up the museum’s steps for photographers, he was spotted inside. He also sat next to Wintour at Vogue World in Paris the following month.)
With this news also comes rumors of Galliano’s next career move. Is it Dior (despite no signs of Maria Grazia Chiuri leaving her post anytime soon)? Fendi? Or might he revive his previously shuttered eponymous label? Galliano vaguely addressed the theories in his statement.
“The rumors…everyone wants to know and everyone wants to dream. When the time is right, all will be revealed. For now, I take this time to express my immense gratitude. I continue to atone and I will never stop dreaming. I, too, need to dream.”
A successor has not yet been announced. Fashionista has reached out to representatives of Maison Margiela for further comment.
Source: Fashionista.com
