With the decision to abandon a planned retrospective on the works of fashion designer John Galliano announced just one month ago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its affiliated Costume Institute has bookended an ignominious chapter in its vaunted history. The exhibition, and particularly Galliano’s direct involvement in what might otherwise be an objective assessment of his fraught legacy, was a flawed enterprise from the start. But backing away in such public fashion, and after at least a year of prior preparation, doesn’t negate the poor judgment of major stakeholders like Andrew Bolton, curator of the Costume Institute, and longtime Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who chairs its annual gala. Instead, the reversal in the wake of an intense pressure campaign only validates a lack of confidence that the exhibit was equipped to present Galliano’s work with candor and nuance.
That the exhibit’s cancellation was framed as, in Wintour’s words, “John’s decision” emphasizes the inherent issues with the enterprise. Galliano — the former creative director of Givenchy, Dior, Maison Martin Margiela and his own eponymous label — is a titanic figure whose contributions to the fashion industry are undoubtedly worth memorializing and placing in context. But the Met did so with the designer’s active participation, while his career is still underway and able to be affected by such a major co-sign. This made the exhibit an altogether different endeavor from, say, the 2005 one dedicated to icon and notorious Nazi collaborator Coco Chanel.Chanel was, to be blunt, no longer around to profit from the boost in visibility. It’s the reason actors face scrutiny for taking roles in the upcoming “Harry Potter” show on HBO, which has the blessing and oversight of anti-trans author J.K. Rowling, but no one blinked when Steven Spielberg adapted known antisemite Roald Dahl’s “The BFG” in 2016. How could a prospective museum-goer not feel they were partially endorsing Galliano with their attendance? He wasn’t just the exhibit’s subject, but a major presence in its planning.
