Designer John Galliano and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City announced that a planned exhibited that would have featured his work will not be moving forward.
Galliano shared a statement on Instagram, saying that “after much reflection and discussion with all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time.”
The decision is due to controversy following Galliano’s past antisemitic and racist comments, which ultimately let to him being dismissed from Christian Dior in 2011 as well as receiving a hate crime conviction in France.
“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,” Galliano said in his statement. “I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture. It is continuing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning and one’s conduct over time.”
“I do not want the debate surrounding me to place The Met in a difficult position or to distract from the remarkable work of the Costume Institute,” he continued. “I also recognize and respect that an exhibition honouring my work would be painful for some. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who have guided, supported and accompanied me throughout these fifteen years of sobriety and recovery from alcoholism and addiction. Your wisdom, patience and humanity have helped me more than I can ever adequately express. I remain profoundly indebted to you for giving me, as you promised, a life better than I could ever have dreamt of. My gratitude to the Met, Max, Andrew and Anna remains profound and enduring. Their generosity, humanity and belief in the importance of fashion as art, culture and history, as well as their understanding of human fragility and the possibility of growth, will remain with me always.”
Wintour also shared a statement in which she said that Galliano’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.”
“I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the Museum have my full support.” she added. “His soaring imagination, fed by a lifetime of curiosity and research, is matched by his exceptional craft. Cut, fit, the evocative line of a bias-cut dress, color—he’s a master of it all.”
Vogue shared that a information on a new spring Costume Institute exhibition and the 2027 Met Gala will be announced at the later date.