MARTIN MARGIELA VS JOHN GALLIANO ANALYSIS

Since John Galliano is currently Creative Director at Maison Margiela, I think it is most reasonable to briefly explore the origins of the Parisian house and its first founder, Martin Margiela. From this I want to analyse the differences between Margiela and Galliano, examining what the house primarily stood for when established in 1988, and what Galliano has complimented since, whilst deciding if I want to take either of them forwards to my FMP too.

Categorised as one of the most influential and iconoclastic designers (SHOWstudio, n.d) Martin Margiela disrupted the fashion industry with his rebellious disposition and playfulness towards Avant-Garde designs.

Choosing to avoid the limelight through not attending interviews or posing for photographs, Margiela aspired for all focus to be prominently on his garments and their story.

From my standpoint, I feel this is antithesis to the former Galliano who would conclude his catwalks by flaunting in period costume and nonsensical outfits. Nevertheless, I think their disparity in publicity doesn’t define their equal innovativeness and imaginative minds for creating the unconventional and challenging traditions in fashion.

Deconstruction was a massive theme for Martin Margiela, alongside oversized shapes, and repurposing materials; he treated clothes like a surgeon: carefully dissecting in order to reassemble in unexpected ways (Jelen, 2021) and John Galliano is infamous for fabricating the unimaginable from an array of materials and cuts, so I see the designers as fairly similar in this instance.

Martin Margiela’s shows often bubbled with an underlying wit, which I believe was prevalent throughout Galliano’s collections for Dior and his own brand. I feel both designers approach fashion from a conceptual perspective, neglecting public opinion and solely prioritising its story and composition.

To the right, I have selected an image from Martin Margiela’s reign, an image from Maison Margiela’s Fall 2014 catwalk, which had no Creative Director at helm, proceeded by a final image of its Spring 2015 catwalk with John Galliano at helm.

Personally, I think the difference between the collections are easily recognisable. John Galliano has brought an irrefutable liveliness back into the Maison, injecting it with the Avant-Garde, unapologetic disruption Martin Margiela evoked, whilst giving it his own spin of flamboyancy and historical elements too.

Looking at the most recent Maison Margiela collections, I feel John Galliano has been the perfect fit and just what Martin Margiela would have hoped for from his departure. Galliano has respected Martin Margiela’s privacy in that he no longer concludes his finales with a walkout and maintains to cover models faces throughout seasons- something I noticed to be familiar through Martin Margiela’s work.

WHY IS JOHN GALLIANO COINED CONTROVERSIAL AND HOW HAS THIS TITLE IMPACTED HIS CAREER SIGNIFICANTLY?

Learning of John Galliano’s background was a fascinating one and my passion for researching saw new heights when acclimating myself to the highs and lows of his journey.

After such immense success with his graduate collection, creation of his own brand, devoted support, and garnering of praise from the industry’s biggest names, alongside the acquisition of numerous British Fashion Designer of the Year awards; the fashion domain was blind sighted into thinking John Galliano’s career was one of the most desirable. Nonetheless, behind closed doors, the pressures of providing collection after collection for his reign at Dior, whilst ensuring each one ameliorated the previous, led the eponymous designer to seek comfort in drugs and alcohol.

In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, Galliano stated “alcohol was like a crutch outside of Dior, but with more collections, the crash happened more often, and then I was a slave to it.” His addiction pushed him to act out of character and in 2011, his domination of the fashion industry was taken away by a culmination of accusations. Galliano was slammed for hurling antisemitic insults and anti-Asian threats at a couple and a video footage was leaked of him containing a mix of inexcusable antisemitism, childish bile, and outrageous obscenity (Sischy, 2013). As a result of his behaviour, his title at Dior was instantly removed, he was fined for his actions, and he withdrew himself from the limelight for the foreseeable. In 2013, Galliano tentatively returned to fashion by working privately for the house of Oscar de la Renta, before landing Creative Director for Maison Margiela in 2014 where he made his appearance back into fashion properly.

Personally, I agree in saying his actions were intolerable and Dior had every right to remove his name from their position. As a designer who claimed to be inclusive and appreciative of everyone, no matter what they looked like- as demonstrated in his own labels 2006 collection featuring radical casting choices which are a realistic image of beauty (SHOWstudio, 2021), Galliano massively contradicted himself. His words, although will never be forgotten and have stained his title forever, should not tarnish his future. John Galliano is known to push the boundaries of fashion by creating conversation through his narratives and garment compositions, I feel the label ‘controversial’ should now only be assimilated with this version of himself. I would love to see him back in helm of his own label and transpire the true John Galliano, the fashion industry was acclimated to before his fall.