Despite Antisemitism: Galliano to Be the Central Figure of Met Gala 2027
The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to John Galliano. The display will cover both his influential career and the antisemitic remarks that led to his downfall.
John Galliano is returning to center stage, only this time the past is entering with him through the front door. The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has announced that it will dedicate a comprehensive exhibition to the designer, which will address his influential career and, in parallel, the antisemitic, racist, and anti-Asian remarks that led to his firing and conviction.
According to the Met's announcement and interviews by The New York Times with those involved in the discussions, the exhibition will not skip over the events and will not soften them. It will open on May 9, 2027, after the Met Gala 2027, and will close on January 9, 2028.
Galliano will be the third living designer to receive a solo exhibition at the Costume Institute, after Yves Saint Laurent and Rei Kawakubo. In his case, this honor comes with a very large asterisk.
Four decades of fashion, and one fracture
The exhibition, "John Galliano: Horizons," will survey four decades of work, from the brand that bore his name, through Givenchy and Christian Dior, to his decade at Maison Margiela.
It will include clothing, accessories, sketches, research books, archival materials, and sewing models. The Costume Institute holds the largest collection of its kind in the world of Galliano's work, and the intention is to track his development since his 1984 graduation collection, "Les Incroyables."
The exhibition will not start with dresses. Curator Andrew Bolton plans to open it with a space that will deal with what he calls "the fracture," the moment that defined Galliano's career alongside the beauty and influence of his work.
In 2010 and 2011, Galliano was recorded in Paris making antisemitic, racist, and anti-Asian remarks. In a video that circulated globally, he is heard saying "I love Hitler," alongside other antisemitic remarks.
Following the events, he was fired from Dior and from the brand that bore his name. A Paris court convicted him of public insults based on race, religion, ethnic origin, and nationality, and sentenced him to a suspended fine of 6,000 euros.
The Met promises no whitewashing
Bolton said that the exhibition will examine Galliano's work through connections, tensions, and changes, but also through the way his behavior and changing cultural values have reshaped the attitude toward his work.
According to him, the question is not whether an artistic achievement erases an offense, but how to hold together an artistic achievement and ethical responsibility without allowing one to erase the other. According to Bolton, the rise in hatred makes these questions more urgent, and he and the museum have a "real responsibility to confront these issues."
Bolton intends to use Galliano's own words as well, but clarified that he will present the most accurate version and not just the designer's version.
Rabbis met with Galliano
In May, a closed meeting was held at the Met with the participation of Anna Wintour, Bolton, Galliano, and some of the most influential leaders and rabbis in the Jewish community in New York. According to The New York Times, this was one of several meetings held over the past year to hear concerns about the exhibition and also to examine if they could support the move.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism in North America, said that Galliano impressed him: "The word I keep coming back to is sincerity. He was open and spoke clearly, not as if he had memorized talking points."
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, stated that the organization had long ago accepted Galliano's apology, and that his efforts to repair the damage and learn from the event are "worthy of appreciation."
Rabbi Joshua Davidson said that the exhibition could become an opportunity to teach about antisemitism, the need to fight it, and its dangers in the current period.
Professional rehabilitation has already happened
After the conviction, Galliano underwent rehabilitation. In the documentary "High & Low: John Galliano," he linked the events to addiction and loss of consciousness, and defined his words as "vile" and "horrifying."
Later, he worked with a rabbi in London and with Abe Foxman from the Anti-Defamation League to learn about Judaism, antisemitism, and the Holocaust. In 2014, he was appointed creative director of Maison Margiela, where he remained for a decade.
Wintour was one of the central figures who helped his professional return. She was among the first to publicly wear his design after his fall, and according to The New York Times, a retrospective exhibition at the Met was a long-standing goal of hers. In a statement provided to the newspaper, she wrote that his career is not defined by one moment, but added: "The exhibition will not shy away from any part of the darkness."
