How John Galliano kept his fashion crown: New film explores how designer plagued by alcoholism and substance abuse staged a comeback after racially abusing Asian man and saying he ‘loved Hitler’

From Rihanna’s papal-inspired Met Gala look to Kate Moss’ wedding dress, some of the most famous moments of 21st Century fashion have come from the brilliant mind of John Galliano.

Born in Gibraltar to an Italian father and Spanish mother, and raised in south London, his quirky aesthetic has been synonymous with British fashion.

But while he’s lead a very glamorous life, rubbing shoulders with A-listers and supermodels on the red carpet, Galliano has also struggled with addiction, alcoholism and substance abuse.

Now, a new documentary is set to explore the designer’s life, scandals and triumphant return to Paris Couture Fashion Week, after being dropped in 2011 for hurling anti-Semitic insults at a group of Jewish women in a Paris bar.

Directed by Oscar-winning Kevin Macdonald, High & Low: John Galliano, will show the peaks and troughs of the 63-year-old’s high-flying career.

Now 10-years sober, he sat down with Macdonald to discuss his rise, fall and return – from the pits of Paris Fashion Week to one of the most sought-after names in the industry.  

Raised the child of a plumber, in south London, Galliano says he was inspired by his Spanish mother, who dressed him and his sisters in immaculately pressed and starched clothes whenever they left the family home.

At the age of 16, he left school to study textile design at East London College, before enrolling at the prestigious St Martin’s School of Art in 1980.

He worked as a dresser at the National Theatre and threw himself into the London club scene – experiences that undoubtedly imprinted his design aesthetic.

After starting an eponymous line in the 1980s, Galliano was appointed as the designer of Givenchy in 1996.

He soon transitioned to Dior, before being spectacularly fired after he was filmed expressing admiration for Hitler and telling a woman, who he thought was Jewish, that her parents should have been gassed.

Heavily intoxicated, he then allegedly ranted to an Asian man sitting with her: ‘****ing Asian b******’.

During his one-day trial in June 2011, Galliano admitted two instances of making anti-Semitic and racist comments and, that September, was given two suspended fines, totalling 6,000 euros.

Galliano’s lawyer cited his struggles with drugs, alcohol and work, noting that he was designing up to 32 collections each year. 

Additionally, he was ordered to pay three plaintiffs and five antidiscrimination groups 1 euro each in damages and a combined 16,500 euros in costs.

Face of Dior, Natalie Portman, was among those outraged by his outburst more than two decades ago.

At the time, the Oscar-winning actress said: ‘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.’

Galliano consistently maintained that he is not anti-Semitic or racist but acknowledged struggling with addiction to alcohol, Valium and sleeping tablets, leading him to seek rehabilitation.

It seems that this was the tip of the iceberg for Galliano, who had a string of drunken indiscretions to his name.

Years earlier, coming off the high of another Fashion Week, Galliano stripped naked and spent four hours in a lift at The Ritz, telling guests who tried to enter that he was a lion, while growling at them.

The hotel called his office in Paris, who offered to cover the bills of any guests who had become inconvenienced. 

Now admitting his demons, Galliano begins the documentary by saying: ‘I’m going to tell you everything’ – from dealing with his devout Catholic parents’ horrified reaction to his homosexuality to his abuse of Valium, bromides, amphetamines and sleeping pills.

‘I was committing suicide, slowly,’ he says.

He also revealed struggles with his workload and depression following the deaths of his father and close friends Steven Robinson and Alexander McQueen.

Despite his explanations, the fallout from Galliano’s rant resulted in the termination of his 15-year tenure as creative director at Dior – where he was earning £4 million-a-year.

The designer was exiled from fashion – yet only temporarily – and he designed Kate Moss’ wedding dress the same year, calling the project his ‘creative rehab’.

In an interview with WWD, Kevin Macdonald recalled being in New York when videos of Galliano’s anti-Semantic outburst emerged online.

‘I was kind of repulsed by him and the way he looked,’ the film director said.

‘I have lost family in the Holocaust and my grandfather’s family all died.

‘That’s a part of why I felt a personal repulsion, but at the same time, I’m always interested in films about ambiguous characters who you’re not quite sure what to think of them.’

A number of John Galliano’s friends and former employees share their thoughts on-screen, including Anna Wintour, Naomi Campbell, Charlize Theron, Amanda Harlech and Kate Moss.

‘We’re both shy and a bit awkward, ’til we’ve had a drink,’ Moss says, chuckling. 

The supermodel starred in Galliano’s first show in Paris, admitting ‘I was so nervous’.

She goes on to explain that Galliano, now a good friend, taught her how to walk down the catwalk: ‘He said put your hips and your pelvis forwards… and lean back.

‘No one gives you direction like John, there was always a story in every show. It’s fantasy, and that’s what fashion should be.’

‘He’d say, “You’re a princess and you’ve just escaped the castle… and the walls are after you. You’ve got to run Kate, run!”‘ 

Edward Enninful, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, adds: ‘For other designers, they were just models. But with John, they became actresses. 

‘He would take them on a journey, through countries, through time. And they would come up feeling so enthused, so excited.’

There is also an appearance from Philippe Virgitti, the target of the designer’s anti-Semitic comments.

During the 2011 court hearing in Paris, Virgitti stated: ‘I don’t think he’s racist or anti-Semitic. I just think he’s very ill.’ 

However, in the documentary, he explains how Galliano’s verbal attack has negatively impacted his life – and does not forgive him.

Galliano insists that he apologised to Virgitti, but Virgitti denies this. 

‘There is no real explanation for the designer’s behaviour. His psychiatrist believes he looked, at random, for a hateful stereotype in our culture,’ he says.

Meanwhile, Sidney Toledano, the Jewish boss of Dior, suggests that anti-Semitism could have been weaved into his Catholic upbringing.

The film also shows a clip of the designer the day after his father’s funeral in 2003, where Galliano’s voice appears slurred, and his pupils gigantic, as he prepares for his next fashion show.

Following a two-month stay at Cottonwood Rehab Clinic in Arizona, Galliano briefly joined Oscar de la Renta in New York. 

The move was reportedly arranged by Anna Wintour, American Vogue editor-in-chief, and Jonathan Newhouse, chairman of Conde Nast International. 

Mr Newhouse is also said to have put Galliano in contact with Rabbi Barry Marcus, who, at the time, was the senior minister of Central Synagogue in London.

Rabbi Marcus educated the designer in antisemitism, introduced him to a Holocaust survivor and invited him to services at his synagogue. 

‘Over time, we built up a relationship and I’m absolutely satisfied that to brand him as an antisemite would be an injustice,’ the rabbi explained. 

‘His knowledge of Jews and Judaism was actually very limited.’ 

In 2014, John Galliano was appointed creative director of Belgian brand Maison Margiela, which described him as one of the ‘greatest undisputed talents of all time’.

‘Margiela is ready for a new charismatic creative soul,’ said Renzo Rosso, president of the label’s parent company OTB, in a statement. 

‘John Galliano is one of the greatest, undisputed talents of all time. A unique, exceptional couturier for a Maison that always challenged and innovated the world of fashion. 

‘I look forward to his return to create that fashion dream that only he can create, and wish him to here find his new home.’ 

Galliano, who oversees the design of all Margiela lines, including couture and women’s ready-to-wear, presented his first collection for the house during Paris Couture Week in January 2015. 

Marking the first time Rihanna wore Margiela to the Met Gala, Galliano created the singer’s iconic Pope-inspired ensemble for the 2018 event, following the theme, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. 

The extraordinary look, featuring a heavily beaded robe, matching mitre and mini dress, referenced Galliano’s Dior Couture 2001 collection, which was inspired by papal regalia. 

The release of High & Low coincides with a catwalk comeback as Galliano made a triumphant return to Paris Couture Fashion Week with Maison Margiela’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection.

In January, Galliano transformed the left bank underbelly of Paris’ Pont Alexandre III bridge into a 1920s dive bar, illuminated by a subdued glow from spotlights.

The Artisan collection, which showcased unique fabric techniques and porcelain-effect make-up, earned the designer a thunderous, five-minute standing ovation. 

Now a decade sober, Galliano, who was once recognised for strutting down the catwalk at the end of a show, has adopted a low-profile approach and no longer makes an appearance.

Galliano told Macdonald that he wasn’t expecting to be forgiven following the documentary, but instead to be ‘a little more understood’. 

The collection received worldwide critical acclaim, with Anna Wintour telling The Times ‘the Maison Margiela couture show captured so many people’s imaginations’ and ‘it was a reminder that when John’s work soars, it lifts fashion higher.’