Luis Fernando Romo
Updated Friday, February 2, 2024-21:31
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In the art of unlearning and the acceptance of fragility, John Galliano (1960)
is a demiurge reborn from his own ashes
. The creative director of Maison Martin Margiela knows what it is like to deal face to face with the evil one when in February 2011 at the Parisian brasserie Le Perle
he uttered anti-Semitic and racist insults at several of the customers
. Among the niceties he blurted out:
"I love Hitler
, "
"You fucking Asian bastard, I'm going to kill you,"
and "People like you should be dead. Your mother, your father, everyone in the gas chamber." He said it in English. The video was recorded by the British tabloid
The Sun
, whose content was published on the front page.
As expected,
l'enfant terrible
of fashion
had its corresponding punishment
. On a legal level, the Paris Correctional Court sentenced him to pay
6,000 euros for anti-Semitic insults
and on a social level he suffered the most absolute ostracism. He was immediately fired from the label that bears his name and the
House of Dior
terminated his services as creative director
after being with them since 1996.
At the end of last January, the couturier closed the
Paris Haute Couture
spring-summer 2024 edition with a story set in Brassai's underworld portraits. At the end,
Galliano regained his lost throne
, but with a greatness that he had not achieved until that moment in his vast career. The architecture of his designs
caused delirium among the attendees
. Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Kris Jenner, Bella Thorne and, of course, dictator Anna Wintour
cheered, stamped their feet, whistled, clapped
and hollered for Galliano to come out and say hello. He had just made history.
However,
the couturier blended in with the brand's philosophy
, since no one has seen Martin Margiela in public since 1997. A suggestive
way to promote oneself contrary to the overexposure
provided by social networks. The faces of Galliano and Margiela are not necessary. Art speaks for itself, as does Banksy.
Some close friends say that "Galliano felt terrible when
he realized what he had said
, since he is not a person who insults" and that after the incident he decided to disappear without giving any explanation. He was not alone. He was supported at all times by his partner, the stylist and
fashion consultant Alexis Roche
, with whom he lives in a palatial apartment in the Parisian neighborhood of Le Marais,
one of the most popular gay areas
where Claudia Cardinale (85) also has her residence. and Carmen Maura (78). Together they took
quiet walks around the area
in order to clear their minds to devise what the next steps would be to follow. "They were critical moments,
he disappeared from the public sphere
and saw very few friends," says a fashion expert, a great admirer of the work of the Gibraltar designer who has Spanish roots on his mother's side. A month after the
brasserie
misfortune , it is said that Rocha recommended her boyfriend travel to the United States to
enter The Meadows detoxification clinic
, located in the Arizona desert.
If in the 1980s the Betty Ford Center was the favorite of celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minnelli, in recent years it has become fashionable for famous drug, drink and sex addicts like Kevin Spacey. , Tiger Woods, Kate Moss or Selena Gómez. Access is inscrutable. Inside, Galliano pampered himself with
horseback riding, acupuncture,
tai chi
, meditation
and other specific therapies to cure his drinking problems. After
receiving his discharge, he returned to his apartment in Paris
and from there he secluded himself in the middle of nature.
The chosen place was Auvergne, where they
settled in a small
stone farm where the only thing they were looking for was disconnection from the
busy Parisian life
and, of course, to avoid the prying eyes of curious onlookers and
paparazzi
. One of the reasons why they ended up in this historical and cultural Gallic region is because
Roche's grandmother was born there.
As
Vogue
magazine reported ,
an antique dealer friend recommended the couple visit Gerberoy
, in northern France, because he was sure they would fall in love. So it was. The crush was immediate. Those cobblestone streets full of half-timbered facades became the perfect setting for the new life that Galliano and Rocha wanted to start. They spent a fortune on the
acquisition of a vast 18th century property
that they completely renovated with exquisite taste. In that fairy tale paradise a short distance from the antique shops of Rouen they regained their strength.
With a different spirit to face things, John Galliano began to
consider returning to the catwalks.
That desire materialized when
Martin Margiela hired him in 2014.
That clean slate in his life transformed him into another creative being who found
his reason for being thanks to his friend Kate Moss,
another outlaw after having consumed cocaine in the past. As Galliano told
Vogue in 2021:
"Kate encouraged me to become John Galliano again
(...) I couldn't hold a pencil. It has been my creative rehabilitation." The couturier designed his wedding dress.