Dior kicks Galliano to the curb
I'm not sure if there are many fashionistas here. If there are, here's one designer you can mark off your Wardrobe Wish List. I know in the light of everything else usually posted here, this is fairly fluffy stuff. But it's nice to see a high-profile company doing something admirable that's probably going to lose them a lot of money.
The timing is especially delicious, too.
John Galliano fired by Christian Dior
Top French fashion house Christian Dior fired John Galliano, its star British creative director, after he was caught on film shouting "I love Hitler" and hurling anti-Semitic abuse at people in a Paris bar.
The dismissal was a bombshell on the first day of Paris Fashion Week and three days before the 50-year old designer's Dior show was due to run on Friday.
Mr Galliano's career had been hanging by a thread since last Thursday, when he was arrested after a couple complained that he had cast racist and anti-Semitic slurs on them. They filed for charges.
Dior suspended Mr Galliano the following day, but came under international pressure on Tuesday to fire him from Natalie Portman, the Oscar winning actress who was signed to promote a Dior perfume.
In a statement released in New York the star of the film Black Swan said she was "deeply shocked and disgusted" by the video.
"As an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr Galliano in any way." Just hours later, Dior finally swung the axe.
"Today, because of the particularly odious nature of the behaviour and words of John Galliano in a video made public this Monday, the Christian Dior house has decided to lay him off immediately and has begun dismissal procedures against him," it said a statement.
In the video, shot on a mobile telephone in December, Mr Galliano can be seen blind drunk at La Perle bar in the trendy Marais district of central Paris.
A woman's voice asks Mr Galliano, "Are you blond, with blue eyes?" Slurring his words, he replies: "No, but I love Hitler, and people like you would be dead today. Your mothers, your forefathers, would be all be gassed and dead." The two women he was referring to were Italian, not Jewish.
Mr Galliano lost yet more credibility when a 48-year old woman came forward on Saturday to press for charges of anti-Semitism over an incident at the same bar in October.
Paris prosecutors are expected to decide by the end of the week whether the designer will face trial over last Thursday's incident. Police questioned Mr Galliano and the couple for five hours on Monday, but have found no eyewitnesses to back up the couple's claims of anti-Semitism.
Mr Galliano had been working for Dior since 1996. It is the leading fashion house at LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group owned by France's richest man, Bernard Arnaud.
Mr Galliano's first dress for the brand was first worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, to mark Dior's 50th anniversary.
The house is scheduled to present its fall-winter 2011-2012 ready-to-wear show at Paris' Rodin museum on Friday. A spokesman yesterday said: "For now, the show has not been cancelled."
It was unclear whether the show of the designer's own brand will go ahead on Sunday. Despite its name, the brand "John Galliano" is part-owned by LVMH.
The dismissal of a man widely viewed as among the world's most talented designers has ignited feverish speculation over who Dior will turn to for creative direction next. Possible replacements include Riccardo Tisci, creative director of Givenchy.
Marcellous Jones, editor-in-chief of thefashioninsider.com magazine, said he was "really surprised that Dior actually had the conviction to fire John Galliano because he makes them a lot of money." The brand has tripled its turnover in his reign to more than three billion euros.
"I think we were all expecting them to send him to rehab and so they are actually firing him. It's a bold move," he said. "It marks a dramatic end to one of the greatest eras in the history of the house of Dior in terms of its international reputation."
Despite his Hitler quote, a former colleague said he found it hard to believe he was a xenophobe. "He has always chosen to surround himself with people of different origins. He himself, due to his (Spanish, Italian and British) origins, considers himself a gypsy".
Source
I'm not the be-all-end-all source of knowledge when it comes to Rom culture, but I don't think many of them refer to themselves as "gypsies." That last paragraph sounds awful similar to the "But some of his best friends are black/gay/whatever!" defense. Gross.
The timing is especially delicious, too.
John Galliano fired by Christian Dior
Top French fashion house Christian Dior fired John Galliano, its star British creative director, after he was caught on film shouting "I love Hitler" and hurling anti-Semitic abuse at people in a Paris bar.
The dismissal was a bombshell on the first day of Paris Fashion Week and three days before the 50-year old designer's Dior show was due to run on Friday.
Mr Galliano's career had been hanging by a thread since last Thursday, when he was arrested after a couple complained that he had cast racist and anti-Semitic slurs on them. They filed for charges.
Dior suspended Mr Galliano the following day, but came under international pressure on Tuesday to fire him from Natalie Portman, the Oscar winning actress who was signed to promote a Dior perfume.
In a statement released in New York the star of the film Black Swan said she was "deeply shocked and disgusted" by the video.
"As an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr Galliano in any way." Just hours later, Dior finally swung the axe.
"Today, because of the particularly odious nature of the behaviour and words of John Galliano in a video made public this Monday, the Christian Dior house has decided to lay him off immediately and has begun dismissal procedures against him," it said a statement.
In the video, shot on a mobile telephone in December, Mr Galliano can be seen blind drunk at La Perle bar in the trendy Marais district of central Paris.
A woman's voice asks Mr Galliano, "Are you blond, with blue eyes?" Slurring his words, he replies: "No, but I love Hitler, and people like you would be dead today. Your mothers, your forefathers, would be all be gassed and dead." The two women he was referring to were Italian, not Jewish.
Mr Galliano lost yet more credibility when a 48-year old woman came forward on Saturday to press for charges of anti-Semitism over an incident at the same bar in October.
Paris prosecutors are expected to decide by the end of the week whether the designer will face trial over last Thursday's incident. Police questioned Mr Galliano and the couple for five hours on Monday, but have found no eyewitnesses to back up the couple's claims of anti-Semitism.
Mr Galliano had been working for Dior since 1996. It is the leading fashion house at LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group owned by France's richest man, Bernard Arnaud.
Mr Galliano's first dress for the brand was first worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, to mark Dior's 50th anniversary.
The house is scheduled to present its fall-winter 2011-2012 ready-to-wear show at Paris' Rodin museum on Friday. A spokesman yesterday said: "For now, the show has not been cancelled."
It was unclear whether the show of the designer's own brand will go ahead on Sunday. Despite its name, the brand "John Galliano" is part-owned by LVMH.
The dismissal of a man widely viewed as among the world's most talented designers has ignited feverish speculation over who Dior will turn to for creative direction next. Possible replacements include Riccardo Tisci, creative director of Givenchy.
Marcellous Jones, editor-in-chief of thefashioninsider.com magazine, said he was "really surprised that Dior actually had the conviction to fire John Galliano because he makes them a lot of money." The brand has tripled its turnover in his reign to more than three billion euros.
"I think we were all expecting them to send him to rehab and so they are actually firing him. It's a bold move," he said. "It marks a dramatic end to one of the greatest eras in the history of the house of Dior in terms of its international reputation."
Despite his Hitler quote, a former colleague said he found it hard to believe he was a xenophobe. "He has always chosen to surround himself with people of different origins. He himself, due to his (Spanish, Italian and British) origins, considers himself a gypsy".
Source
I'm not the be-all-end-all source of knowledge when it comes to Rom culture, but I don't think many of them refer to themselves as "gypsies." That last paragraph sounds awful similar to the "But some of his best friends are black/gay/whatever!" defense. Gross.