The Met Gala organisers have announced that fashion designer John Galliano will be the focus of next year’s exhibition.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vogue jointly revealed on Friday that the 2027 Costume Institute exhibition will be titled “John Galliano: Horizon.”
The announcement has now sparked debate because of Galliano’s antisemitic remarks in 2011, which had cost him court fees, a fine, termination from the fashion house at the time.
Galliano, now 65, later apologised, claiming that he didn’t recall the incident and had suffered from alcoholism and drug addiction. He took a hiatus from the fashion world and sought rehab before returning in 2014 for a role as Maison Margiela’s creative designer.
Foreseeing a possible unrest over the upcoming tribute, Vogue’s global editorial director Anna Wintour met with Jewish leaders and rabbis in New York to discuss concerns about the exhibition before it was announced and seeking the leaders’ “blessing.”
Rabbi Joshua Davidson, leader of Temple Emanu-El, acknowledged Galliano’s “sincerity,” saying “he was open.”
“He looked right at us and spoke in a clear way, not as if he had memorised talking points,” Jacobs told the Times.
“The fear clearly was the show could be met with a lot of resistance — not just skepticism, but a feeling of it’s wrong,” he continued.
Rabbi Joshua Davidson, the leader of Temple Emanu-El, also agreed to a second chance for Galliano, but suggested that the exhibition should also address Galliano’s past actions and educate visitors about the dangers of antisemitism.
“What we had said to them is it would be powerful, poignant and productive if they were able to leverage it as an opportunity to teach about the reality of antisemitism, and somehow wrap into the exhibition the importance of fighting back and the dangers of antisemitism in this moment,” Davidson told the newspaper.
He added that some members of the Jewish community are likely to find the tribute upsetting. “People may very likely be upset by it. I can understand those feelings,” he added.
Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, also said the organisation accepted Galliano’s apology years ago and believes he has taken responsibility for his past. However, he said the timing is difficult as antisemitism has recently increased.
“But timing matters,” Greenblatt told Page Six. “Antisemitism is surging, most recently in last week’s stabbing, and Jewish New Yorkers are feeling unheard by their city’s leaders. As the decision is made, now it’s on the Met and partners, not with token gestures around one exhibit, but with real action against antisemitism, in the museum and across the fashion world they help shape.”
Curator Andrew Bolton, who has been thinking about honouring Galliano since 2010, said the organisers needed to find a way to “hold artistic achievement and ethical accountability together without allowing one to erase the other,” per the Times.
Wintour also defended the decision, saying Galliano’s “career isn’t defined by a single moment” and that he deserves “an exhibition of this scale.”
The announcement also sparked debate on social media, with some users criticising the decision while others supported it.
“It is just astonishing that at a time of rising antisemitism in New York, Anna Wintour has decided that *now* is the time to honour John Galliano,” one person wrote on X, referring to the recent hate crimes in the Big Apple.
“John Galliano was a polarizing choice for sure,” another added, as a third chimed in, “No. Just no.”
Galliano will become only the third living designer to receive a solo exhibition at the Met. The exhibition is scheduled to open in May 2027.
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