Since this Monday, August 31, there is only one post on the Instagram profile of designer John Galliano (Gibraltar, 65 years old), where he has 1.6 million followers. The others have been deleted, and the only post now visible is the one announcing, through a statement, that he has decided to cancel his exhibition at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the branch dedicated to fashion of the gigantic museum that always opens with the high-profile Met Gala on the first Monday of May.
In the post, a simple image of black text on white, the controversial designer announced his intention not to proceed with the exhibition, which was scheduled for spring 2027, following the controversy generated by his entry into the halls of one of the most prestigious museums in the world. What was supposed to be an absolute endorsement for the British designer has turned against him after the world recalled the tremendous antisemitic controversy he was involved in 2011, when a video surfaced showing him clearly drunk and displaying a derogatory attitude towards the Jewish community, which ended with his dismissal as Dior’s designer and his exclusion from the industry until he was hired by Margiela in October 2014 — a brand he left a decade later.
“I am deeply grateful to the Metropolitan Museum of New York and, particularly, to Andrew Bolton and Anna Wintour, for the extraordinary honor of proposing an exhibition dedicated to my work. That an institution I have admired all my life has taken my creative career into account has moved me more than I can express in words. I will always be grateful for the trust, attention, and scholarship that Max, Andrew, Anna, and the entire Met team have brought to this project,” begins Galliano’s message, who signed with Zara last March for a two-year period, during which he will be responsible for redesigning old pieces of the brand, as Inditex announced then.
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Next, he explains the reasons why he has decided to cancel the exhibition planned for 2027, which, as announced a month ago, would be called John Galliano: Horizons. “After much reflection and after speaking with all involved parties, I have decided, with great sadness, that the best thing for the exhibition is that it does not take place at this time. I continue to fully assume responsibility for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the harm I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities, and I still feel deep remorse. I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition, or a single public gesture. It is an ongoing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning, and one’s own conduct over time.”
Another reason that led him to make this decision, he assures, is that he does not want “the debate around me to put the Met in a difficult position or distract attention from the extraordinary work of the Costume Institute.” “I also recognize and respect that an exhibition honoring my work would be painful for some people,” he adds in a message in which he expresses gratitude “to all those who have guided, supported, and accompanied me throughout these fifteen years of sobriety and recovery from alcoholism and addiction.” “Your wisdom, patience, and humanity have helped me more than I could ever adequately express. I remain deeply indebted to you for giving me, as you promised, a life better than I could have ever dreamed.”
To conclude, he again has words of thanks for the director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Max Hollein, the curator of the Costume Institute Andrew Bolton, and Anna Wintour: “Their generosity, humanity, and conviction of the importance of fashion as art, culture, and history, as well as their understanding of human fragility and the possibility of growth, will always remain with me.”
In the statement collected by the U.S. edition of Vogue, Wintour declared: “John’s decision to ask the museum to postpone the exhibition dedicated to his work is very brave and reflects the kind of man he is. I consider it the right decision, and both he and the museum have my full support. His overflowing imagination, fueled by a lifetime of curiosity and research, matches his exceptional craftsmanship.” “The cut, the fit, the evocative bias line of a dress, the color… he is a master of all these. Without any of these elements — if his technique were not up to his narrative talent — he would not be the most outstanding designer of his generation. But, without a doubt, he is,” added the all-powerful Wintour. Hollein also shared his view on the decision: “After careful reflection with John Galliano and many stakeholders, I agree with John’s decision that this is not the right time for this exhibition.”
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The designer announced his decision just three days after an article published on August 28 in The New York Times, which mentioned that, in response to criticism over this choice, the possibility of postponing the high-profile Met Gala, with which the museum annually kicks off the opening of its fashion exhibition, was being considered. “In response to public criticism, the trustees and board members of the Met have rushed to try to mitigate the damage. To start, they are evaluating whether to change the date of the next Met Gala from its usual day — the first Monday of May — to the following week,” explained the U.S. media. “In recent days, opposition from Jewish leaders in New York and elsewhere to the museum’s plan to honor Galliano has grown. Some donors have contacted Met executives and threatened to withdraw their contributions to the museum if the exhibition proceeds as planned. They have also reached out to Wintour, Andrew Bolton, and Max Hollein, the museum director,” explained The New York Times.
According to the newspaper, Julie Menin, City Council President and one of the highest-ranking Jewish officials in city government, called the museum’s decision to highlight Galliano’s career “a serious mistake” in a letter she sent last Thursday to Hollein, Bolton, and Wintour. “Our cultural institutions, especially those receiving funding from New York City, have a responsibility to show that hatred and intolerance have consequences,” Menin wrote in the letter accessed by The New York Times through a Met representative. “Words matter, and whom we choose to exalt is a direct statement of our values and what we are willing to tolerate,” she added in a missive urging the museum to reconsider its stance.
In a statement issued last Friday, Hollein declared that “the Met does not tolerate antisemitism, racism, or prejudice of any kind. We maintain close communication with Jewish leaders and other stakeholders, and we take very seriously the concerns we have heard.” In another statement issued Friday, Bolton said that “no critical assessment” of the designer’s career “can be complete without directly addressing his mistakes.” “Whether Galliano can be forgiven is not something the exhibition intends to answer,” he added.
Last month, when the Met’s plan to honor him became public, Wintour stated: “No one deserves an exhibition of this magnitude more than John Galliano.” And she added: “His career is not defined by a single moment.” Now it is the designer himself who has decided that this was not the right time.
As the news published in Vogue about the final point of the Costume Institute exhibition at the Met planned for spring 2027 recalls, “the show — which would have included garments, accessories, sketches, toiles [fabric prototypes], research notebooks, and archival material representative of Galliano’s entire career, from his 1984 graduation collection at Central Saint Martins, Les Incroyables, through his work at the Parisian haute couture houses Givenchy and Dior, to his last spectacular show for Maison Margiela — would have been only the third retrospective dedicated to a living designer at the Costume Institute, after those of Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons in 2017.” Information about the new spring exhibition of the Costume Institute and the theme of next year’s Met Gala will be announced later.