Anna Wintour addresses controversial 2027 Met Gala theme with defence of designer's 'dark past'
Met Gala organisers have already unveiled the theme of next year's soiree, revealing it hinges on a character with a criminal history.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute's spring 2027 exhibition will mark the third time that a living designer is being honoured, following Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Comme des Garçons' Rei Kawakubo in 2017.
It'll focus on the work of British fashion star John Galliano, titled 'John Galliano: Horizons'.
The 65-year-old artist began his career in the industry at Givenchy in the mid 90s, becoming one of the most influential names in technical tailoring and historical storytelling, after which he filled the role of Dior's creative director.
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In 2014, he undertook a 10-year stint as Parisian fashion house Maison Margiela's creative director. He has also dressed a horde of huge-name faces, including Kim Kardashian and Charlize Theron.
Galliano's impressive career has been without its string of controversies, however.
Galliano's controversies
In fact, it's been plagued by racist and anti-Semitic incidents, two of which resulted in him being charged with hate crimes.
In one instance, Galliano was arrested for verbally abusing two people close to his Marais apartment. In another, he allegedly insulted a woman.
While standing trial, he claimed he hadn't remembered the former incident, having been in the midst of addiction to sleeping pills, Valium and alcohol.
Galliano told the courtroom at the time: "I have an addiction. I am currently seeking treatment."
He was convicted in the French capital over his multiple outbursts - including also professing his love for the German dictator Adolf Hitler in a Paris restaurant - and forced to pay the equivalent of a €7,300 fine.
The designer reflected on the attacks in the 2024 documentary High & Low - John Galliano, describing them as 'disgusting' and 'horrific'.
"I can say I’m not racist, but every day you actually learn that all of us are a bit," he claimed. "But we just need to unlearn it and like immigrants. I am one. I was one."
Anna Wintour's verdict
Vogue's ex-editor-in-chief Anna Wintour - who also serves as the brand's global editorial director - has attempted to justify the decision to make Galliano's legacy centre-stage, claiming there 'no one more deserving of an exhibition of this scale'.
"His body of work - at Dior, Givenchy, Margiela, his namesake label and more - combines erudition and creativity, darkness and light, the past, the present, the future all smashing together in a brilliant way," the fashion powerhouse continued.
"He’s a great designer and his career isn’t defined by a moment - something that he will live with for the rest of his life."
Wintour, 76, went on to claim: "The exhibition won’t shy away from any of the darkness in John’s past. It’s part of what has shaped him.
"The show will take in the full arc of his career and grapple with all of it."
The Met's defence
According to Andrew Bolton, the Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute at The Met, organisers don't plan on removing references to Galliano's history of prejudice.
He said in a press release cited by Vogue: "Every Galliano collection begins as a journey among things separated by time, place, or medium: portrait and posture, silhouette and story, memory and material.
"Horizons' approaches fashion as a form of cartography, mapping not territories but affinities, tensions, and transformations. It traces how images become ideas, ideas become material, and material becomes emotion."
Bolton continued: "Yet a horizon reveals not only what lies before us but also where we stand.
"The exhibition therefore considers both how Galliano has remapped the world through fashion and how his conduct, its consequences, and changing cultural values have reshaped our understanding of his work."
A critical reaction
Unsurprisingly, many annual spectators of the Met Gala aren't best pleased by the choice of theme, with some questioning why organisers couldn't have chosen a tribute free from debate.
"Surely someone less controversial and equally talented could have been picked," one internet user suggested. It is one thing to forgive someone and another to honour one."
Another hit out: "So now we reward criminals? Wow, I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t live it. Disgusting low standards."
A third continued: "Were there no other designers available to use? They could have used the designers from Walmart if they needed to."
Support from the industry
Some industry professionals have spoken in support of the decision to honour Galliano, including 1 Granary editor-in-chief, Olya Kuryshchuk, who described the move as 'refreshing'.
"Few designers have left a mark on fashion as profound as John Galliano," she said, as per The Guardian.
"He fundamentally changed the way fashion communicates emotion, fantasy and storytelling and influenced generations of designers."
Fashion BA course leader at Central Saint Martins, Sarah Gresty, added that Galliano remains an inspiration for many of her students.
"Lots of students admire the skill and aesthetic ambition of Galliano, so I am not surprised by the news," she continued. "The museum obviously has decided his work merits that platform."
Tyla has contacted Galliano's reps and the Met Gala for comment.
Rhianna Benson