Fashion Keeps Finding Its Way Back to John Galliano

Can you separate the art from the artist? The fashion industry has never quite figured out how to leave John Galliano behind.

Just weeks ago, Zendaya wore a sweeping dress from Galliano’s spring 1997 “Circus” collection for the London stop of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Before that, both Margot Robbie and Charli XCX wore his pieces during the press tour for “Wuthering Heights.” A long list of A-listers continues to wear his designs on red carpets and galas, ranging from his theatrical silhouettes to what passes for subdued in his design vocabulary.

The MET Announces the Costume Institute John Galliano: Horizons Exhibition

Now, just a few months after his Zara collaboration was announced, Galliano’s grip on the industry remains strong. For spring 2027, the Costume Institute will mount John Galliano: Horizons, a monographic exhibition spanning more than four decades of his career, from his 1984 Central Saint Martins graduate collection through Givenchy, Christian Dior, and Maison Margiela.

Galliano is set to be the third living designer to receive such treatment from the museum, after Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Rei Kawakubo in 2017.

It’s an extraordinary honor for a designer whose place in fashion history comes with deep complications. Galliano was fired from Dior in 2011 following antisemitic remarks and was subsequently convicted in France, but the MET has made clear that Horizons will confront that history. Curator Andrew Bolton has organized the exhibition in three sections, with “Bearings” addressing Galliano’s personal history, controversies, and their consequences.

Yet for all the weight his name carries, Galliano continues to inspire unparalleled world-building and theatrical craftsmanship. His decade at Maison Margiela introduced a younger generation to his imagination, while his Dior pieces never truly disappeared from the house’s codes, with creative director Jonathan Anderson still referencing him in recent shows. 

For better or for worse, the world of fashion refuses to look away from John Galliano.

Photos from GIVENCHY, DIOR, MAISON MARGIELA, JOHN GALLIANO, and GORUNWAY

Anya Oxyn

Senior Fashion Writer

Formerly a stylist who immersed herself intimately within the Philippine fashion circuit for over three years, Anya has refined her transformative, hands-on experience into an insightful voice for MEGA Asia as a Senior Fashion Writer.

Her editorial pursuit possesses three facets: her time as an essayist during her education at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, her extensive experience in digital media and strategic storytelling, and her belief that fashion has a beating heart deeply intertwined with art, culture, society, and humanity itself that is worth uncovering.

Anya’s versatile pen spans a dynamic range of subjects, including emerging local designers, global luxury houses, beauty trends, film and television fashion analysis, cultural op-eds, major events, and beyond.

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