John Galliano (pictured in 2000) in his atelier in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. A gaze back at the career of an artist who was as tormented as he was brilliant.Image: Dave Benett Library
For more than ten years, John Galliano worked behind the scenes for Maison Margiela. Now, the British designer is making waves with a surprising announcement: a collaboration with Zara. This comes as a reflection on the tumultuous years of a designer who was both genius, and eccentric.
March 21, 2026, 6:46 PMMarch 21, 2026, 6:46 PM
Paris, October 2010. A dispute erupted on the terrace of La Perle restaurant in the 3rd arrondissement between two Italian tourists and a man sitting alone in the corner. The man appeared strange, wearing a black hat and mustache, with tired eyes and dilated pupils. Without realizing he was being filmed, he told the women in broken English:
“I love Hitler, and people like you would be dead today.”
Undeterred by the outraged reactions of those nearby, he continued, “Your mothers, your fathers would have been gassed and dead, damn it. You are ugly!”
“My God, you have a problem,” one of the diners exclaimed.
The man with the black hat and antisemitic insults.capture d’écran: youtube
A problem, indeed. That man was John Galliano. And in that moment, as he unleashed those racist and antisemitic remarks, the creative director of Maison Dior was experiencing the lowest point of his life.
The Tormented Genius
He had it all: talent, money, success, critical acclaim, supportive friends, and the backing of powerful superiors at the LVMH group. After a hard 1980s and 90s, the Gibraltar-born son of a plumber rose to the top of two of the world’s greatest fashion houses—first Givenchy, and then almost immediately Dior—through talent, perseverance, and the right connections.
John Galliano, 1997, as his career as artistic director of Maison Dior takes off.Image: Dave Benett Library
Brilliant designer, marketing whiz, and eccentric showman: John Galliano captivated audiences for years with his runway appearances—as a pirate, musketeer, matador, or astronaut—showcasing his toned, gleaming, oiled abs.
Magnate Bernard Arnault gave him “carte blanche” and allowed all his extravagances. It must be said: his creations were highly sought after. Under the Briton’s leadership, Dior, once considered dusty and outdated in the early 90s, more than quadrupled its revenue and increased its number of boutiques tenfold.
The performances of John Galliano at the end of his fashion shows (here in 2002) are legendary.Image: Dave Benett Library
But the facade was deceptive. Behind the spectacular shows and the success of an extroverted and daring artist, John Galliano was suffocating. Since his father’s death in 2003, he gradually began to decline. This didn’t stop him from working like a madman, producing up to 32 collections a year.
“Sometimes I felt like God. I was a functioning alcoholic. It became cyclical: after each collection, each creative high, came the low. The faster the pace became, the shorter these phases were.”
John Galliano, in the documentary Luxe, la fabrique du rêve (2024)
The fatal blow came in April 2007, with the loss of his friend and longtime right-hand man, Steven Robinson, who was found dead in his Paris apartment with seven grams of cocaine in his blood. Steven, the man who “protected him above all else.”
The designer at the Maison Dior headquarters, Avenue Montaigne, in 2005.Image: Dave Benett Library
Already weakened, John Galliano spiraled. To his alcohol dependence, he added Valium, bromides, amphetamines, and sleeping pills. From then on, he couldn’t go to sleep without having all his bottles lined up next to his bed—vodka, vodka tonic, wine, whatever. “I was slowly destroying myself,” he told the Vogue in 2013.
“Sometimes I felt like God. I was a functioning alcoholic. It became cyclical: after each collection, each creative high, came the low. The faster the pace became, the shorter these phases were.”
John Galliano, in Vanity Fair
The final blow came in February 2011, with another incident at the same La Perle restaurant. This time, a completely drunk John Galliano unleashed a tirade of abuse on a couple. Unlike the incident the previous October, which went largely unnoticed until a video resurfaced in British tabloid media, the judgment this time was swift and unequivocal.
At the end of the Dior Spring/Summer show in October 2010. John is just a shadow of his former self.Image: Dave Benett Library
Just days later, John Galliano was dismissed as artistic director at Dior. He was found guilty of three separate charges of making offensive remarks, though he maintained he had no recollection of the events of the night in 2010. “When everyone came to tell me that I had said these terrible words, I ran around in a daze, barely understanding what was happening.”
“I had all these voices in my head asking me a thousand questions, but I didn’t admit for a second that I was an alcoholic. I thought I could control it.”
John Galliano, in Vanity Fair
I felt like a bus or truck was hitting me at full speed and my legs were bleeding. I was paralyzed with fear.
The bad boy finally crossed the line. John Galliano was arrested by French police on February 28, 2011.Image: Dave Benett Library
It was time for the wounded artist to seek treatment. On March 1, 2011, he entered a rehab center in Arizona for several weeks, where he had to deliver up almost everything he brought with him—including a copy of Keith Richards’ autobiography, *Life*.
A Helping Hand
Rescue came from a longtime friend of the designer: Kate Moss. The same friend who years earlier taught him how to walk the runway—shoulders back, hips forward—to best showcase the sensual slip dresses that draped the body like butter on toast.
Weeks after the start of his recovery, Kate reached out with a special request she had made even when he was still at Dior: to design her wedding dress.
“She challenged me to be John Galliano again. I couldn’t even hold a pen. It became my creative therapy.”
John Galliano, in US Vogue
And the result exceeded all expectations: a 1920s-style dress, romantic, adorned with golden sequins in the shape of a phoenix—a sign of the artist’s rebirth. At the ceremony, people wept. “The guests stood up and applauded John. It was a very emotional moment, because John suddenly realized he wasn’t alone,” Kate Moss recalled.
Kate Moss in John Galliano at her rock ‘n’ roll wedding to Jamie Hince, in Southrop, England, in July 2022.Image: FilmMagic
The Comeback
After his rehab in the US, John Galliano retreated to Switzerland with his lawyer to prepare for the trial that awaited him in the summer. Found guilty in 2011 (a verdict he did not appeal), his path to redemption would take years.
After months of being ostracized by the fashion industry, an offer came from an unexpected source during a tea meeting: to take the artistic direction of Maison Margiela, which had been without a creative director for five years since the departure of its founder, Belgian designer Martin Margiela.
It was a pivotal moment. “I had doubts—wondered if I was the right person, if I was capable—but after that sentence, I thought, I think I can try,” John would tell Marie Claire ten years after taking the helm.
More subdued and serene: John Galliano at the end of the Margiela show in Paris in 2017.Getty Images Europe
Over the next decade, John Galliano rebuilt his life while designing dreamy pieces for his new home, Maison Margiela. Sober in every way. More reserved and discreet, he withdrew from the runways and the media, preferring to work in his Parisian apartment and atelier, which he never left.
He would break that rule only in January 2024, with the presentation of his final collection. A last triumphant and fascinating haute couture show that would have no sequel. John Galliano left Maison Margiela at the height of his creativity, proud and fulfilled.
John Galliano, 2026, at Paris Fashion Week. The designer is far from ready to retire.Image: Dave Benett Library
Rumors swirled. Moving on—but to where? And to what? At 64, the hyperactive designer shows no signs of slowing down or retiring.
True to his reputation as a free spirit, one of the most iconic and influential figures in fashion history is now turning to a brand no one expected: Zara, with whom he has just signed a two-year artistic partnership. And the world is waiting to see what he creates. (fwa)
