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There was plenty to chew on from the Vogue World press conference in Paris back in February: The Place Vendôme coup, the buy-in of both
LVMH and the French government, the sheer magnitude of staging such an event in the lead-up to this summer’s Olympics. Walking out of the Ritz that night, however, all I could think about was the casual conversation I’d witnessed during arrivals between
Sidney Toledano—the former C.E.O. of Dior, former head of the LVMH Fashion Group, and current head of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture—and his long-ago designer,
John Galliano. The Maison Margiela creative director was seated on a curved-back sofa with his boyfriend,
Alexis Roche, facing out into the gilded Salon Marie-Louise.
It wasn’t surprising that Toledano and Galliano were exchanging pleasantries. I had just previewed the documentary
High & Low, the Condé Nast-produced,
Kevin Macdonald-directed attempt at charting Galliano’s rise (he was appointed to Givenchy in 1995, and then to Dior), his fall (in 2011, following a drunken, antisemitic rant), and his third act at Margiela. I wouldn’t say Macdonald did anything to exonerate the designer—his shortcomings are obvious—but the relationship between Toledano and Galliano is carefully, honestly, and vividly depicted. (Galliano’s visit to the Dior archives is the emotional peak.) Toledano’s feelings about Galliano—his addiction, his rants—are more believable than anything else.
I didn’t expect the film to facilitate Galliano’s return to the LVMH fold—an idea first
sparked by
Dana Thomas, the fashion journalist and Galliano biographer, in March. At the time, I dismissed the Galliano-to-LVMH chatter, if only because it didn’t make financial sense. But after hearing
much more of the same speculation from sources I trust, I’m convinced that his return is
possible, though hardly preordained.
The challenge with Galliano is that his creative direction is best suited to an earlier time, when the spectacle of the runway was enough to fuel sales of ancillary products—handbags, makeup, fragrance, etcetera. Today, runway shows have to drive sales of what’s actually
on the runway, too. Galliano’s current posting at Margiela works for owner
Renzo Rosso, in part, because the brand is already expertly merchandised. Having a critically lauded designer at the fore—even if his designs are but a small part of the commercial offering—is worth the marketing expense. The decade-long investment bore fruit with January’s
magnificent-by-most-accounts Artisanal show. And for what it’s worth, people close to Rosso refuse to entertain the idea that Galliano could be leaving.
Today, LVMH requires something different from its creative directors than what OTB has required of Galliano. They are product designers and marketers first, and, if we’re lucky, big thinkers, too. (As I’ve mentioned, the platonic ideal for fashion insiders is Loewe’s
Jonathan Anderson: creative, commercial, and confident.) And yet, the notion that LVMH and Galliano are hatching a plan to get back together continues to gain steam, with speculation that the designer has met with LVMH chairman
Bernard Arnault regarding a potential reunion.
If there
were to be a reconciliation, I could imagine it unfolding in several ways. One scenario is that LVMH would bring Galliano back to revive the John Galliano brand, which is
all but dormant. In that case, LVMH could strike an agreement with OTB, Rosso’s holding company that owns Margiela, for him to design both lines. It’s not such a crazy idea:
Karl Lagerfeld famously worked for Chanel and LVMH, designing Fendi womenswear, for decades. The difference is that Lagerfeld loved the industry’s hamster-wheel, while Galliano blames it for his self-destruction. It’s difficult to believe he’d be willing to re-engage in that way.
Another possibility is that Galliano would
leave Margiela to dedicate himself to his namesake, with the intention of finishing his career there. Or perhaps, most intriguing, he might return to Givenchy, where he started his ascent, and which is currently without a creative director. (There were murmurs that Givenchy would promote an unknown from within, but I’m hearing that is no longer the plan.)
It would be an epic, full-circle end to the drama, and Galliano may indeed be what Givenchy needs: a designer who can make elegant clothing while someone else figures out the accessories business. Regardless of what happens, I would not discount Arnault’s loyal nature. Galliano played a large role in the rise of LVMH, and he knows that.
Just look at the way Arnault has managed the Marc Jacobs brand in the decade after
Jacobs served his time at Louis Vuitton. While there were many mistakes made in the five years following Jacobs’ departure from LV, Arnault and his team eventually organized Marc Jacobs in such a way that the designer was able to design freely while others took the irreverence that made him special and created a commercial plan around it. Jacobs is particularly suited for this arrangement—he knows how to play the game. Has Galliano learned?
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