Anna, what were you thinking? You were going to stage the next Costume Institute exhibit and Met gala in honor of John Galliano, a nasty piece of work and a notorious antisemite. Oh, I know he is one of your BFFs but, you who are so astute at figuring out the way to please the super-rich, must have had a qualm or two. Or didn’t you?
Most of us don’t know much about Galliano except that he made over-the-top gowns worn by actresses and models on the Red Carpet. Still, we all have heard about his string of antisemitic outbursts. Galliano lost his job at Christian Dior in March 2011 after a video surfaced showing him declaring, “I love Hitler”, and telling diners at a café their relatives would’ve been gassed.
There were other incidents at the same café in the Marais, traditionally Paris’s Jewish quarter, including one where he told a woman he hated her “Jewish face.” Following his firing, a French court found him guilty of public insults based on race and religion.
I’m not surprised Dior acted so decisively even though Galliano had been successful for the brand. Christian Dior’s sister “Miss Dior” had been a member of the Resistance during the war and had been sent to a variety of concentration camps including Ravensbrück, where medical experiments were performed and women were tortured.
After going through rehab, apologizing, and supposedly learning about Judaism and the Holocaust with rabbis, Galliano got a job at Maison Margiela, another luxury fashion house, with the help of Anna. But then there was another just reported public outburst. In an early August Facebook post written by a publicist, she described a 2019 event at an alcohol-free Italian wellness spa. A friend of hers was talking in Hebrew on the phone and Galliano began screaming, “Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!” When the woman asked if he had a problem with Hebrew, he said he did. She replied she had a problem ever wearing his clothes again and that she would get rid of any she had.
I know the feeling. Galliano has just designed a collection for Zara which is about to be launched. I like Zara. Zara is my idea of high fashion. Next week I’ll check out what’s new at Mango.
Also, I wonder if Zara was going to be a big buck sponsor of the Gala. In the current September issue of Vogue there is a six-page article about the woman who runs Zara. Kind of a coincidence.
Of course, the Galliano exhibit has been controversial since it was announced. This year’s Gala was going to be held on May 3rd which is Holocaust Remembrance Day. A little awkward. Didn’t Anna, who’s so press-savvy or any of her minion’s notice? Did she not even care?
At first, she seemed to ignore the concerns. Maybe because she felt she had such big clout at the Met she could do what she wanted. The Costume Exhibit and the Gala over the years have brought in an impressive $500 million.
Still, Anna did arrange meetings between Galliano and some New York rabbis and tried to convince Julie Menin, the daughter of Holocaust survivors and the first Jewish speaker of the City Council that all will be well.
But there have been increasing acts of antisemitism in the city this summer. Some of Mayor Mamdani’s statements haven’t helped. Two people were assaulted at Central Synagogue, where several Met board members worship. Then some major donors began to publicly express their objections.
Menin wrote an official letter of protest that included a veiled threat to withhold city funds. Arne Glimcher, a prominent dealer and collector told a Met curator he and his wife were seriously reconsidering donating some works. Ann Tisch, whose family has given millions to the Museum, thought the exhibit was “an insane idea,” emailed a complaint and when it wasn’t promptly answered shared it with all her friends on the Board.
Last week, Galliano was persuaded to bow out writing on his Instagram page, “After much reflection and discussion with all involved, I have decided with great sadness that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time.”
Anna threw a good-bye kiss back declaring, “John’s decision that the exhibition devoted to his work should not take place at this time is very courageous and a measure of the man he is.”
At this time? Like maybe never?
But I still have a question: Why did the Metropolitan Museum of Art turn into the Metropolitan Museum of Fashion? Now the first gallery you see to your right when you enter the Great Hall is the nearly 12,000 square foot Conde M. Nast Galleries which is still housing last year’s dumb Costume Art show.
Yeah, yeah, I know dress designers are artistes, too. I remember the speech from “The Devil Wears Prada” about how they influence our lives and that the cerulean blue they use on the runway makes us buy a cerulean blue sweater from T.J. Maxx three years later.
So what? And I guarantee there will not be a “Devil Wears Prada 3.”
Aren’t you supposed to go to the Met to see the Rembrandt, the Sargent, the Greek statuary, the Temple of Dendur. Not, excuse my French, schmattas.
Anna, it’s sad, you had such hubris.
Met board members, it’s sad you fell so in love with the Gala, a big glitzy party which is getting sleazier every year, that you supported the remaking of a great museum.
In the last week or so I have been watching a lot of Dolly Parton on Reels. She was amazing. Her interview with Barbara Walters is shown over and over. Barbara asked her why she dressed the way she did. Dolly replied, “I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable.”
Didn’t Dolly, smart about so many things, have it exactly right?
