John Galliano - Designer, Creative Director of Maison Margiela

[jeanclaude]

Tomo is the japanese equivalent of Giambatista Valli: you can take the ruffles out of the man; but you cannot take the man out of the ruffles!

As for Galliano, the knitted tulle ribbons looked interesting...but the gigantic sweater he created is a mess! And besides, coming from John at Margiela I was expecting...a trench coat made of tulle ribbons!!

 

[jeanclaude]

PS. Special thanks to Anna Wintour, for trying to become Vogue into a high-profile bastard version of "Project Runway"...

 

[CholoChic]

Amazing game, I think Galliano did a work full of fun and the other one has a little stress, makes me think that Galliano has the job.

 

[StylishCynic]

In the 2022 calendar year, Maison Margiela presented 1 ready to wear collection via lookbook and didn’t show any physical presentations. That 1 lookbook was technically a pre-season (Avant Première), meaning that they simply didn’t present 3 other RTW collections for SS, PF, and FW.

2021 was a rocky road for all designers, but MM also only presented 1 RTW collection during that calendar year as well.

The brand is delivering new clothes, but none of it is attributed to any lookbooks or collections. I have a hard time believing that buyers don’t have lookbooks for placing orders. Why not present them to the press as well?

Does someone have any insight into what in the hell is happening at Maison Margiela?

 

[LadyJunon]

In the 2022 calendar year, Maison Margiela presented 1 ready to wear collection via lookbook and didn’t show any physical presentations. That 1 lookbook was technically a pre-season (Avant Première), meaning that they simply didn’t present 3 other RTW collections for SS, PF, and FW.

2021 was a rocky road for all designers, but MM also only presented 1 RTW collection during that calendar year as well.

The brand is delivering new clothes, but none of it is attributed to any lookbooks or collections. I have a hard time believing that buyers don’t have lookbooks for placing orders. Why not present them to the press as well?

Does someone have any insight into what in the hell is happening at Maison Margiela?

I personally believe that Rosso and Galliano are mutually preparing to discretely "detach" Galliano from Margiela and I think that this is for two reasons:
• John turned 62 (the minimum age to retire in France) this year and may possibly be retiring in the following years
• John's Margiela reboot is working as well as hoped, possibly having the same issues as Michele's Gucci (gender-fluid approach chased away male clients, with them gravitating towards the Replica and MM6 lines)

 

[Mutterlein]

In the 2022 calendar year, Maison Margiela presented 1 ready to wear collection via lookbook and didn’t show any physical presentations. That 1 lookbook was technically a pre-season (Avant Première), meaning that they simply didn’t present 3 other RTW collections for SS, PF, and FW.

2021 was a rocky road for all designers, but MM also only presented 1 RTW collection during that calendar year as well.

The brand is delivering new clothes, but none of it is attributed to any lookbooks or collections. I have a hard time believing that buyers don’t have lookbooks for placing orders. Why not present them to the press as well?

Does someone have any insight into what in the hell is happening at Maison Margiela?

Lookbooks created for buyers are not usually acceptable for public consumption.

They serve different purposes. One is a sales tool, the other is a marketing tool.

It looks to me like they shifted their marketing budget to buy now/wear now.

What would normally have gone into producing a show or lookbook is now going into an ominichannel strategy focusing on e-commerce and social media---which, from what I've seen, has been actually quite stunning.

 

[gallianostan]

ugh please give this man his label back

 

[Mutterlein]

In the 2022 calendar year, Maison Margiela presented 1 ready to wear collection via lookbook and didn’t show any physical presentations. That 1 lookbook was technically a pre-season (Avant Première), meaning that they simply didn’t present 3 other RTW collections for SS, PF, and FW.

2021 was a rocky road for all designers, but MM also only presented 1 RTW collection during that calendar year as well.

The brand is delivering new clothes, but none of it is attributed to any lookbooks or collections. I have a hard time believing that buyers don’t have lookbooks for placing orders. Why not present them to the press as well?

Does someone have any insight into what in the hell is happening at Maison Margiela?

If you check out the website, you'll see that the avant premiere lookbook is actually one insanely well-produced e-commerce shoot conceived and art directed to do double duty as social media content.

It's quite expensive to do a production like that, I wouldn't be surprised if they reallocated the budget from shows and lookbooks.

 

[LadyJunon]

Lookbooks created for buyers are not usually acceptable for public consumption.

They serve different purposes. One is a sales tool, the other is a marketing tool.

It looks to me like they shifted their marketing budget to buy now/wear now.

What would normally have gone into producing a show or lookbook is now going into an ominichannel strategy focusing on e-commerce and social media---which, from what I've seen, has been actually quite stunning.

Imagine going from being the most iconic showman of the late 20th/21st century to solely producing e-commerce imagery and social media content.

Sad.

 

[GivenchyHomme]

Imagine going from being the most iconic showman of the late 20th/21st century to solely producing e-commerce imagery and social media content.

Sad.

I agree, but he's very lucky to have been embraced again after what happened in 2011. Some people aren't lucky enough to get another opportunity after such an event. He's been at MMM for 8 years, so he must be comfortable in his current position. After years of chaos and stress at Dior and his own line he's probably starting to enjoy life.

 

[Mutterlein]

Imagine going from being the most iconic showman of the late 20th/21st century to solely producing e-commerce imagery and social media content.

Sad.

Is it?

I don't know, the drama and theatrics is saved for the consumer at point of sale rather than to create a hullabaloo for press. Arguably a better use of resources and more relevant to the intended audience.

Have you looked through the website? It's stunning and immersive and the fact that he was able to execute such a feat is pretty impressive. It's like shopping a living, breathing lookbook. No other brand has come close to anything like it. It's very modern and innovative in my opinion.

Anyways, I believe there's still the couture and I assume this is just a temporary strategy to deal with the pandemic and that eventually things will go back to normal.

It is my understanding that his Margiela sells very well. I would be surprised if Galliano left anytime soon.

 

[YohjiAddict]

The outfits produced for that lookbook are incredible, I’m often left quite impressed when they post those little videos on their Instagram. A perfect balance between his bag lady chic and the ingenuity that characterizes Margiela as a house.

 

[brandon J pierre]

The first look is from his 1995 show, i just love john, but wish they could some how give his own name back

 

[Cocteau Stone]

Frankly, he’s the antithesis of what is going on right now so I commend him for that. Yes, I would love him to be at his own label but to see him just going for it at Margiela is rather refreshing compared to the slamming we get from other designers from an aesthetic and social media pov (which ends up getting exhausting very quickly). E-commerce is the way to go in John’s eyes so at least he’s making the most of it. Don’t know how I feel about them turning Margiela into the conglomerate they’re attempting, however it is slower going than I expected.

But I do wonder how he feels about what is going on right now. Despite the theatrics, he always was a “what you see is what you get” kind of designer so I can feel a sense of frustration. And I don’t think Margiela is the right place to express it but what else does he have at the moment. Very few compare to what he has right now, so I’m happy to take what I can get from this approach.

 

[Lola701]

Is it?

I don't know, the drama and theatrics is saved for the consumer at point of sale rather than to create a hullabaloo for press. Arguably a better use of resources and more relevant to the intended audience.

Have you looked through the website? It's stunning and immersive and the fact that he was able to execute such a feat is pretty impressive. It's like shopping a living, breathing lookbook. No other brand has come close to anything like it. It's very modern and innovative in my opinion.

Anyways, I believe there's still the couture and I assume this is just a temporary strategy to deal with the pandemic and that eventually things will go back to normal.

It is my understanding that his Margiela sells very well. I would be surprised if Galliano left anytime soon.

I have always been very critical of Galliano’s work for Margiela because of the theatrics. At Dior, it was fun in the early to mid 2000’s but it became really annoying towards the end. So the perspective of having to deal with the theatrics again already bothers me..

But, we have to give it to him. Margiela is probably the house that still produces ambitious clothes today. I look around and under Galliano, Margiela produces serious clothes that you can wear everyday for the most part. It can suit many styles actually but it still has a feeling of fashion mainly because of the cut and details. When I go to the Margiela website, I want all the clothes in my wardrobe…From the dresses to the capes and the pants.

I feel like sometimes it’s a bit too expensive for Margiela (I get Rosso’s strategy) but it’s very desirable. And it’s great that there’s a space for that today in fashion. You can buy clothes that have a fashion appeal, something special but that are still timeless enough to last a long time…

I’m not a fan of their accessories but Margiela by Galliano is more than solid for me. And it’s still probably the best place to buy a trench-coat today lol.

 

[Mutterlein]

Personally I think he's doing some of the best work of his career. It's like a mature, sophisticated version of what he was doing in the mid-late '80s.

@Lola701 I agree, I find a lot of pieces to be covetable and desirable. It's way out of my price range, but if the fashion fairy granted me one piece to choose, I would absolutely be able to find something I'd want and would actually wear. And I can't say that for 95% of what's out there.

 

[Norden]

I concur, I’m buying almost exclusively margiela again.
It’s fashion but still wearable. For me it behaves in a similar way to old Marni, where you could buy an item, not feel like a clown but still wear fashion.
There’s really fantastic tailoring and knitwear, with exactly the right colors and fabrications. It’s also not overtly stiff and boxy.
The only thing I object to is the occasional bad taste in branding and finishes, recently they started stitching some buttons in red. Feels a bit early 2000s diffusion line/ ma+ etc

 

[LadyJunon]

Maison Margiela is holding an exhibition in Tokyo showcasing Galliano's most recent "Artisanal" collection. It runs until Aug 15.

 

[gallianostan]

@johngalliano you have time for this nonsense but not another artisanal collection in over a year? ffs

 

[Salvatore]

I am tired of Galliano at Margiela !