Fashion & Beauty

Inside Galliano’s demons

One fashion observer believes John Galliano began to unravel around the time of this July 2007 fashion show, where he was flanked by Linda Evangelista (far left) and Naomi Campbell. (EPA)

Just like his decadent designs that swing between brilliance and madness, John Galliano is famous in fashion circles for his erratic, flamboyant behavior. In 2001, a London-based magazine writer was interviewing the Dior designer when he witnessed both sides of his personality.

“It was at the height of him showing off his body and being on a health kick — he was doing triathlons in the Far East, or so he said,” recalls the writer, who, like most of the sources in this piece, would speak only on condition of anonymity. “But when you looked at his body, he had painted-on abs and pecs . . . you

know, when you use a darker shade of fake tan to do contouring. He wasn’t really buff or ripped — his arms were pretty spindly.

“When I was interviewing him he was low-key, and almost shy,” the writer continues. “Very controlled and careful about what he said. The interview came to an abrupt halt when his assistant said, ‘You’ll have to leave because John is going to finish getting ready now.’ So I left him and his entourage in their room. Ten minutes later, he burst out of the door jigging about, laughing, full of crazy energy.”

That Galliano is riddled with demons is no secret, but the fashion industry was appalled to discover a new, entirely unsavory trait about the head designer for Dior this week. After a video emerged showing him drunkenly slurring to strangers that he “loved Hitler” and Jews should have “all been gassed,” he was fired from his lofty post yesterday.

“It’s a total shock. I have known him for over 20 years — I don’t go out partying with him — but to me it is completely out of character,” says Hilary Alexander, the fashion director of London’s Daily Telegraph.

Another veteran fashion reporter in London says, “I was so shocked when I heard the news that I didn’t actually believe it until I watched that video online. Initially, I couldn’t believe it because — and so many fashion people have said this — what he did is so contrary to everything we know about him.”

Many pointed to Gibraltar-born Galliano’s love of multiculturalism, which he regularly celebrated in his designs. “We all know that he is this eccentric, mad genius, but he has an international persona,

he’s inclusive of other cultures and he’s so widely traveled,” says the veteran reporter. “He is always across the globe opening some new Dior megashop.”

Some insiders blamed Galliano’s outburst on drugs, drink and stress — a common cocktail in the fashion industry, especially for creative types at the top of their game. Fellow British designer Alexander McQueen killed himself last year at age 40 after a period of depression and drug use.

But unlike the dark and brooding McQueen, 50-year-old Galliano was always seen as the playful pirate of fashion. Ever since he took up the reins at Christian Dior in 1996, he sailed the seas looking for inspiration for each of his ready-to-wear collections and couture shows, and wowed editors with his beauty and showmanship. At the end of each presentation, he always appeared onstage, striking his trademark rock-star pose and wearing an outrageous costume — posing, at different times, as a naval captain, a bullfighter, an astronaut, a monarch and a 1920s gangster.

His outlandish style won him legions of celebrity fans, including the actresses Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman, the face of Dior beauty since June 2010. Portman condemned his comments in a statement on Monday.

Just last month, Galliano admitted that the pressure of running a French fashion house got to him from the beginning, and he sought help. “I’ve tried hypnotism in London,” he told the Times of London. “Gisele [Bundchen] sent me to a place where they put pins in my ears, which lasted about five hours. I had a woman from New York who came in and said, ‘Give me every cigarette, every carton in your room!’ And I got in the car, and I was so grouchy for five hours that my team said, ‘Oh, John — pul-lease have a [smoke]. You’re unbearable.’”

One respected UK fashion journalist suspects that Galliano’s mental state started to unravel in 2007, after the suicide of Stephen Robinson, his right-hand man at both Dior and his signature John Galliano line. Sources say Galliano never forgave himself for Robinson’s death, which happened in Paris while the designer was out of the country. He once described Robinson as “my rock, my dearest friend.”

“Based on that video, he obviously needs help,” adds the veteran journalist. “He’s normally friendly and happy. I suspect he has still not got over the death of Stephen.”

But others say the world of couture itself is culpable for creating an atmosphere where the highest fliers remain unchecked.

“The fashion industry can really create monsters — people live in these bubbles where they are fawned over and celebrated,” says the veteran writer. “Nobody ever says no. They get exactly what they want . . . They are completely out of touch with reality because they don’t live in reality. I can see how [Galliano] has become this crazy, out-of-touch lunatic.”

Dior first suspended Galliano on Thursday, after a couple made a police complaint saying the designer had hurled racist and anti-Semitic abuse at them at the La Perle cafe in Paris. (The video, of a separate incident at the same cafe, came to light a couple of days after the complaint.) Many editors speculate that Galliano’s swift initial suspension was a clear sign that he was no longer at his creative apex — and the company already wanted him out.

“The speed with which they sacked him says a lot,” the source continues. “If he was someone at the height of his powers, they would have stood by him until the evidence came out. [But] that immediate suspension was so harsh, they [probably] already had somebody else in mind [for the job].”

A London-based stylist who is familiar with the harsh edge of the fashion industry agrees: “I think everyone’s known [Galliano’s] been crazy forever, but to be honest, he’s not the only one in the industry.

“The sad thing is companies will let it slide while a designer is doing their job — instead of trying to get him the help he obviously needs.”