Zara to launch first chapter of John Galliano collaboration on October 1

The first instalment of the collaboration between Zara and John Galliano will be available this Thursday under the title “Re(form)”, reinterpreting pieces from the Spanish brand’s past seasons.

On Monday, Zara announced the launch date and time on its social media channels, sharing a black-and-white video bearing the phrase ‘Authored by Couturier John Galliano. Built from our Memory, Made for Now. Vol 1’.

The announcement comes a month after Galliano decided to withdraw from the exhibition that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (the Met) was to dedicate to him to coincide with the 2027 Met Gala, following opposition from Jewish leaders and museum donors to honouring him over antisemitic and racist comments he made in 2011.

Zara, as announced last March, is backing the designer beyond the controversies with a project focused on deconstructing and transforming pieces from various past collections by the brand.

Guided by haute couture processes and an auteur vision, the collections will be released season by season throughout the collaboration.

This partnership revives the work of the 65-year-old Galliano in the wake of the Met controversy, itself the latest consequence of remarks made in 2011 that had already led to his dismissal from Dior.

Galliano, born in Gibraltar as Juan Carlos Antonio Galliano, was convicted in France that year of an offence related to antisemitic remarks after a court found he had hurled insults at Jews and Asians during two incidents in a Paris bar.

The incidents were filmed and made public, and the ensuing controversy led to his dismissal as Dior’s creative director, a post he had held for 15 years.

Following the scandal, Galliano underwent rehabilitation for addiction issues. In 2014, he returned to haute couture as creative director of Maison Margiela, a role he would hold for a decade.

On August 1 this year, the Met announced that the exhibition inspiring the 2027 Met Gala would be dedicated to Galliano’s career and would explore “the extraordinary creative achievements” of the British couturier, as well as ‘the derogatory behaviour that fundamentally altered his career’ and reputation in 2011.

Criticism from the Jewish community was swift, and the controversy escalated with statements from figures including gallerist Arne Glimcher, who threatened to remove the museum from his will, and Elisha Wiesel, president of the Elie Wiesel Foundation.

Politicians also weighed in, including the Speaker of the New York City Council, Julie Menin, who described the exhibition as a “punch in the gut” for the city’s Jewish community.

This led to Galliano’s withdrawal, and on August 31 he issued a statement via Instagram. “After much reflection and discussions with the Met and all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to go ahead at this time,” he said.

The designer acknowledged the harm caused by his past remarks and said he did not want the debate surrounding him to place the Met in a “difficult situation” or distract from the work of the Costume Institute, which is responsible for the exhibition.