The John Galliano label, no longer helmed by the disgraced designer, sent out a far more accessible collection on Friday at the Paris spring-summer menswear shows, put together by a longtime associate.
Bill Gaytten stepped out the shadows to take a bow at the finale of the first John Galliano Homme show since the celebrated British couturier’s spectacular fall from grace in February.
“I’ve worked with John a long time,” a bedenimed Gaytten, 51, who grew up in Oldham, near Manchester in the north of England, told reporters backstage.
“I first started (working with Galliano) when I was about 24, 25,” he said. “We came to Paris together, we started at Galliano together, we started at Dior together.”
Galliano stood trial on Wednesday on charges of spewing racist and anti-Semitic insults at patrons in a Paris cafe, including one video-recorded incident that led to his firing as creative director at Christian Dior. He was subsequently dismissed from his own label, majority owned by Dior. Dior chief executive Sidney Toledano — who praised Gaytten backstage for “a great job” — said that no decision had yet been taken on who will succeed Galliano at the parent label. —AFP