Sadly things only seem to go from bad to worse for John Galliano. As expected, Dior gowns were scarce on the red carpet at last night's Met Gala and his namesake line did not appear at all. To make matters worse, despite recent reports that his Jewish lawyer Stephane Zerbib has quit, the designer's spokesperson revealed that Zerbib was actually fired. Vogue.com reports:
Amid rumours today that John Galliano's lawyer, Stephane Zerbib, had quit, a spokesperson for the British designer told us Zerbib had in fact been fired as Galliano's representative: "Mr Zerbib was dismissed as Galliano's lawyer some weeks ago following the discovery of apparent irregularities in respect of his firms administration of Galliano's financial affairs over a number of years," the spokesperson told us.
It must have been serious irregularities to warrant th designer firing the lawyer so close to his trial, as Galliano is set to appear in court next weekfor allegedly making anti-Semitic comments to people in a cafe in Paris earlier this year.
Despite Karl Lagerfeld's previous comment to Numero magazine that he wanted Haider Ackermann to take over his spot at Chanel when he retires, the Kaiser has gone back on his word. Lagerfeld told W that he now sees nothing of the sort, though he said Ackermann could make a great Givenchy designer, if the current head of that label, Riccardo Tisci, moves to replace John Galliano at Dior.
When asked about who should helm Christian Dior, Lagerfeld said: "Well, I’m not a consultant there, but I think Riccardo Tisci would be good, and then Haider Ackermann at Givenchy - not because they are friends of mine, but because they are good." And as for the previous mention of Ackermann at Chanel, Lagerfeld added: "It’s not his world, I don’t think."
I feel extremely blessed that I’m in that lineup of designers that I’ve admired all this while...it’s unbelievable. It isn’t something I was expecting...I’m just going to say I was very humbled, grateful and thankful. I don’t want to say more.
Bernard Arnault of LVMH has said that Dior won't be hasty naming John Galliano's replacement, WWD is reporting that advisers have compiled a list of suggested successors. Among them: Riccardo Tisci, Tom Ford, Hedi Slimane, Olivier Theyskens, Nicolas Ghesquiere, Alber Elbaz, Haider Ackermann, Prabal Gurung and Sarah Burton.
This comes after false rumours that Tisci had already accepted the position; he's supposedly the favorite of Delphine Arnault, Dior's deputy managing director and daughter of Bernard. As for Burton, WWD reports that if she dresses Kate Middleton for this month's royal wedding, her chances will shoot through the roof. WWD says: "According to a source, Bernard Arnault is transfixed by royalty, and would be keen to launch Dior alongside the next-generation couple, just as Princess Diana helped catapult the image of the brand in 1995 when she toted a Lady Dior bag and, a year later, donned a midnight-blue, bias-cut Dior gown by Galliano to attend the Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art."
Word was, John Galliano had checked into rehab at Meadows in Arizona, but it seems that he's out. Sunday at LAX, he drew heat from reporters, including a staffer from TMZ. So yes, he's now officially worthy of paparazzi stalking. (See the video here.) One reporter at the Los Angeles airport called the designer "f*cking racist", but Galliano didn't speak a word to anyone in return.
Jamie Hince has just become the latest person to comment on John Galliano's anti-semitic statements, which got him fired from Dior last month. First off, Hince was quick to squash rumours that his fiancee, Kate Moss, would wear a wedding dress by the designer, calling the speculation "unfounded entirely." He went on to say that he believes Galliano's problem is one of alcohol abuse, not politics.
From Hince's point of view: "I don't even know John that well, but I feel like people have got to see reason here. John has a problem with alcohol, and the reality is that when we're in trouble, and that's all of us, we say the most violent, cursed things. You can judge them on the stupid words they said — which I think were stupid, I hope that goes without saying — or you can dig a bit deeper and you can try and find out what the problem is. And I think it's obvious that it's alcohol. People are trying to say those are his politics. 'I love Hitler' — that's not political, that's somebody in trouble."
Just in case you're not already tired of the constant speculation about John Galliano's successor at Dior, we come baring more news. A source revealed to Fashionista that despite Riccardo Tisci remaining the front runner, the company will not announce an appointment until towards the end of the year.
Understandably bosses want to revert the attention back to the collection and away from the controvery and speculation and Galliano is yet to be formally fired. After Natalie Portman made a stand about not being associated with Galliano in any way, it begs the question of whether other celebrities and creatives will snub the brand? Will a star taking the risk of wearing Dior on the red carpet and risk allegations of complicity? We doubt it.
The Guardian are at the centre of strong criticism at the moment, after Hedi Slimane's people firmly discredited a recent piece that ran in the newspaper, which suggested that the photographer would reject a job offer at Dior. According to Slimane, the interview was taken before the whole John Gallianosaga, so they deliberately postponed publishing the piece in order to cash in on the controversy.
Speculation has been rife about who will succeed John Galiano at Dior. Although Riccardo Tisci has been seen as the top choice, a recent article in WWD suggests that the race isn't over just yet. This season his collection at Givenchy received mixed reviews despite Anna Dello Russo calling the collection "the best show of the season so far" and many have begun to question whether his dark aesthetic will suit Dior.
Haider Ackermann is also in the pipeline for the job. Unlike Tisci his fall collection was hugely successful and receieved a raptuous applause by industry guests and from the photographers pit too. When asked about the speculation he made it clear that he's not ruling a move out altogether. "There are places that I would like to go, that I might go, but it’s like a love affair — you just have to meet the right person and look together in the same direction," he said. "Sometimes you have a repertoire of your own, and you have something else to express and the code of another house might help. We’ll see."
Although Alber Elbaz's name has been thrown into the hat too, it's unlikely that he'll leave Lanvin anytime soon as he's contractually bound up with the brand for the forseeable future.
