The designer has withdrawn from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s planned spring 2027 exhibition following criticism over his past antisemitic and racist remarks.
John Galliano will no longer be the subject of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring 2027 Costume Institute exhibition.
The museum and Galliano announced Monday, Aug. 31, that the planned exhibition, “John Galliano: Horizons,” will not take place as scheduled after weeks of backlash surrounding the designer’s inclusion.
The exhibition was first announced July 31, with Galliano set to become only the third living designer to receive the Costume Institute’s singular exhibition treatment. Yves Saint Laurent was the first in 1983, followed by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons in 2017.
The announcement immediately drew scrutiny because of Galliano’s history. The designer, now 65, was one of fashion’s biggest names through the 1990s and 2000s, serving as creative director of Dior from 1997 to 2011. His career came crashing down that year after a series of antisemitic and racist incidents, including a video recorded at a Paris restaurant in which he made antisemitic remarks and professed his love for Adolf Hitler.
Galliano was convicted in France of two hate crimes stemming from the incidents and fined the equivalent of about $8,500.
Now, just one month after announcing the exhibition, Galliano has asked the Met to postpone it.
Galliano Says He Remains “Fully Accountable”
In a statement published by Vogue, Galliano expressed gratitude to the museum while acknowledging the pain caused by his past behavior.
“I am profoundly grateful to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and particularly to Max Hollein, Andrew Bolton, and Anna Wintour, for the extraordinary honour of proposing an exhibition devoted to my work,” he said.
He added that the decision to step away came after discussions with the museum and others involved with the project.
“After much reflection and discussion with The Met and all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time,” Galliano said.
The designer specifically addressed the Jewish and Asian communities affected by his actions.
“I remain fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the hurt I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities, and I remain deeply sorry for it,” he said. “I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture. It is a continuing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning and one’s conduct over time.”
Galliano also said he did not want the controversy surrounding his inclusion to put the Met in a difficult position or take attention away from the Costume Institute.
“I also recognize and respect that an exhibition honouring my work would be painful for some,” he said.
The designer has previously spoken publicly about his behavior and recovery from alcoholism and addiction. In Kevin Macdonald’s 2024 documentary, “High & Low — John Galliano,” he called his conduct “a disgusting thing, foul thing that I did” and said, “It was just horrific.”
Anna Wintour Defends Galliano’s Fashion Legacy
Anna Wintour, who has been one of Galliano’s longtime supporters within the fashion world, backed the decision to postpone the exhibition.
“John’s decision to ask the Museum to postpone the exhibition devoted to his work is very courageous and a measure of the man he is,” Wintour said. “I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the Museum have my full support.”
Wintour did not shy away from praising Galliano’s place in fashion history, describing his technical ability and decades of runway work.
“His soaring imagination, fed by a lifetime of curiosity and research, is matched by his exceptional craft,” she said.
She pointed to Galliano’s Fall 1994 show at the Hôtel Particulier in Paris and his final Maison Margiela Artisanal collection for Spring 2024 as examples of the work that cemented his reputation.
Galliano became creative director of Maison Margiela in 2014, taking over the house after his departure from Dior. He remained there until 2024, when he announced he was leaving the brand.
Wintour also noted Galliano’s influence on a younger generation of designers, including Dior’s current creative director Jonathan Anderson, who has cited him as one of his heroes.
The Met Was Already Facing Pressure
Galliano’s decision comes after mounting criticism of the Met’s original announcement.
According to The New York Times, donors had threatened to withdraw financial support from the museum if the exhibition went forward. Some had also contacted Wintour, Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton and museum director Max Hollein to voice their objections.
The timing created another problem for the Met. The 2027 Met Gala was originally expected to take place on the traditional first Monday in May. That date coincides with Yom HaShoah, also known as Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day.
The Times reported Friday, Aug. 28, that Met trustees and board members were considering moving the gala to the following week.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin was also among the first elected officials to publicly call for Galliano to step away from the project.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Menin said the City Council provides the Met with more than $3 million in discretionary grants for educational programs and argued that the museum had made the wrong call.
“I felt very strongly that this was the wrong move, that this was a grave mistake, and that I was 100% going to fight this and speak out against it,” she said.
Menin also said she had spoken with Bolton, Wintour, Met officials and board members about reversing the decision.
“This was a mistake, that they should reverse course, that this had wide-ranging reverberations, because it’s basically condoning and elevating someone with a history of these remarks,” she said.
She further claimed that the decision had not been thoroughly discussed by the museum’s full board.
A board meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday to discuss the situation and determine the museum’s next steps.
What Happens To The 2027 Met Gala?
For now, the fate of the 2027 Costume Institute exhibition is unclear.
Vogue reported that the Met will announce information about a new spring exhibition and plans for the 2027 Met Gala at a later date.
The cancellation also leaves the Costume Institute with an unusually short runway to replace a project that had already been publicly announced.
Galliano’s work remains deeply influential in fashion, but the controversy surrounding his past made the planned exhibition one of the Met’s most contentious choices in recent memory. His decision to step away now puts the museum in the position of finding a new direction for one of fashion’s biggest annual events.
Whatever comes next, the 2027 Met Gala is already shaping up to be a very different night than the one fashion was expecting just a month ago.
