Shannon Says...

Where's John?

The question still remains. Where is Sir John Galliano??? The Gibraltar born designer has been MIA since his drunken outburst in December 2010 when he publicly revealed his thoughts about Jews to a group of young women in a small bar in Paris. He was given the boot on February 25th in 2011 and has been off the fashion radar since. Even the infamous Karl Lagerfeld expressed his disgust with Galliano saying, ”I’m furious, if you want to know. I’m furious that it could happen, because the question is no longer even whether he really said it. The image has gone around the world. It’s a horrible image for fashion, because they think that every designer and everything in fashion is like this. This is what makes me crazy in that story. The thing is, we are a business world where, especially today, with the Internet, one has to be more careful than ever, especially if you are a publicly known person. You cannot go in the street and be drunk - there are things you cannot do… I’m furious with him because of the harm he did to LVMH and Bernard Arnault, who is a friend, and who supported him more than he supported any other designer in his group, because Dior is his favourite label. It’s as if he had his child hurt.”

Natalie Portman was even weighing in on the world famous scandal. The Jerusalem born actress, whose great-grandparents died at Auschwitz, had a contract with Dior for the Miss Dior perfume. In a statement Portman said, “I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano’s comments that surfaced today…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 later apologised for his behaviour but unfortunately, the damage was done. The video proving his anti-Semitic remarks was made public and he was impersonated on Saturday Night Live by Taran Killam.

Even though the hurt caused by Galliano is more than obvious, he is still considered a huge loss to the world of fashion. He brought Dior into the 21^st century with his outstanding and daring designs. The fashion industry needs a designer with Galliano’s talent and broad imagination. Where ever you are Galliano, COME BACK TO US!