8 Things You Didn’t Know About John Galliano, The Designer Who Redefined Dior
By Alexus Mosley
Some designers follow fashion trends while others take it as an opportunity to theatricalize it. John Galliano belongs firmly in the latter. With a flair for drama, love of history, and a tendency to blur the line between genius and absolute chaos, Galliano transformed it into a stage and a fictional, fantastical world. Long before “fashion moments” became a currency, he was creating them. Here are eight things you may not know about the designer who made fashion feel cinematic again.
A Debut That Changed Everything
John Galliano’s graduate collection, 1984, Central Saint Martins, London
His graduate collection was a fashion legend before he was. Galliano’s 1984 Central Saint Martins collection, Les Incroyables, drew from the French Revolution and was so striking that it was purchased in full by London boutique Browns. Not bad for a beginner.
He learned storytelling backstage, not just in the studio
Before the runways, Galliano worked as a dresser at London’s National Theatre. This role shaped his obsession with movement, character, and clothing as performance.
He made history in Paris… twice
Galliano during his time as the creative director of Dior in 2005.
Photo Credit/Derek Hudson/Getty Images
In 1995, he became the first British designer to lead a French couture house at Givenchy. Shortly after, he took over Dior… and the rest is history. Literally.
Fashionably Late but on Purpose
John Galliano poses with his models at the Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2010.
Photo Credit/ Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/ Getty Images)
Galliano was known for deliberately delaying his runway shows, often timing them to follow everyone else’s. In true Galliano fashion, even timing is strategic.
The Bag That Launched a Thousand It Girls
Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in the HBO series, Sex and The City
Photo Credit/HBO
The Dior Saddle bag, yes, that one, was designed under Galliano’s reign, and quickly became one of the most recognizable accessories of the late ‘90s and early 2000s. With its curved silhouette and bold logo detailing, it wasn’t just a handbag but a status symbol, immortalized on the arms of It girls and Sex and the City characters alike.
He’s Central Saint Martins through and through
As one of Central Saint Martins’ most celebrated alumni, Galliano helped cement the school’s reputation as the ultimate incubator for bold, boundary-pushing talent.
His off-runway life was just as dramatic
John Galliano walks the runway during the Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2003 fashion show
Photo Credit/Getty Images
Gallinano’s off-runway life is just as theatrical. At one point, Galliano was reportedly banned from around 20 London hotels for his… unpredictable behavior. Stories range from complete room destruction to more surreal moments like allegedly spending hours in a hotel lift claiming to be a lion. Let’s just say, with Galliano, the line between performance and reality was often blurred.
His breakthrough collection came together in just three weeks
Linda Evangelista walking in the John Galliano Fall 1994 Ready to Wear Collection
Photo Credit/Guy Marineau
After financial struggles in the early ‘90s, support from fashion insiders (including Anna Wintour and André Leon Talley) helped Galliano stage his Autumn/Winter 1994 show. Created in just three weeks, the collection featured bias-slip dresses that would go on to define an entire era of effortless, sensual dressing.