Yahoo Lifestyle John Galliano's 16 Best Margiela Moments, According to Bazaar Editors
Today on Instagram, John Galliano announced his departure from Margiela, the house where he was appointed creative director in 2014. Earlier this year, Galliano staged a Spring 2024 Couture show that felt like an ode to the magic of fashion. It was a show that called to mind the theatrical runway antics of a bygone era, complete with glassy makeup that made the models look like porcelain dolls, runway walks that told a story, and an overall sense of over-the-top drama and spectacle. Many saw it not just as Galliano returning to his roots but potentially taking a final bow. And now it is official.
Galliano did not allude to what exactly his next step would be, instead simply writing, "The rumors...everyone wants to know, and everyone wants to dream. When the time is right, all will be revealed. For now, I take this time to express my immense gratitude. I continue to atone, and I will never stop dreaming. I, too, need to dream." He continued by expressing his gratitude for Martin Margiela, who he said trusted him to make his house his own even when he didn't trust himself. "I'll readily admit I'm demanding and difficult to run with when challenged, but look at what we have built."
In honor of his transformative decade at the house, Harper's Bazaar editors look back at their favorite Galliano moments at Margiela, below.
His Memorable Debut: Spring 2015 Couture
"The stakes surrounding Galliano’s debut collection for Margiela couldn't have felt higher. It wasn't just a show, but an opportunity for him to reintroduce his visual language to the world post-scandal, to start fresh and rejoin the fashion community by doing the thing he loves more than anything in the whole world. And what a triumph it was. People apparently cried. The collection had grit and glamour, humor and humility. It was a perfect mash-up of two distinct creative codes: Margiela’s provocative deconstructions and Galliano’s unbounded opulence. There was fantasy and futurism in couture pieces made for a wild and beautiful soiree in a place like the Upside-Down. For Galliano, this Margiela show was the beginning of a humble rise back up to the top."—Brooke Bobb, Fashion News Director
His Equally-Impressive Ready-to-Wear Follow Up for Fall 2015
"After Galliano’s successful couture debut, the bar was set high for his first ready-to-wear collection—and he did not disappoint, designing a look with his signature hourglass corset silhouette that he would reinvent for seasons thereafter. There was a subtle element of undone beauty throughout the collection, along with elements of everyday glamour in his leather dishwashing gloves and brown-paper-bag–style handbag. It was the beginning of a run of iconic moments to come!"—Jaclyn Cohen, Senior Fashion & Accessories Editor
A Cloud Coat Closing for Fall 2015
"The last look of the Fall 2015 Artisanal Collection, presented in July at the Grand Palais, was a memorable one. Model Irina looked as if she was enveloped by a beautiful cloud while dramatically clutching the pillow-like cape. The gown had an exquisite long train, making for quite the grand finale!"—Nicole Fritton, Executive Fashion Director
Surreal Tulle Portrait Dresses for Fall 2016
"This look from Margiela Fall 2026 is engrained in my memory. It was Galliano's first time at Margiela collaborating with an artist, Benjamin Shine. The tulle portrait snakes around the model's coat like cigarette smoke, and to me represents the kind of innovative techniques only Galliano can dream up. The material wasn't really sewn on but transferred with an iron—the kind of magic that makes couture couture."—Tara Gonzalez, Senior Fashion Editor
A New Kind of Glamour for Fall 2017 Couture
“A standout memory for me is John Galliano’s Maison Margiela Fall 2017 Couture show. The collection showcased trench coats cut and rearranged in new proportions and silhouettes, incorporating unexpected materials like transparent organza and sequins. It offered a peek inside Galliano’s creative mindset, revealing the breadth and depth of his artistry."—Julie Tong, Senior Commerce Content Lead
Whimsical Chaos for Spring 2018
"This collection, to me, was Galliano at his finest. The deconstructed trenches and inside-out boudoir dresses were wild and whimsical and felt like a well-balanced synergy between Margiela’s house codes and Galliano’s brain. It was about movement and messiness, the kind of unbridled glamour that we’re all aspiring to right now—a dissertation about personal style collaged with beautiful chaos."—BB
An Extraterrestrial Look for Katy Perry at the 2017 Met Gala...
"For the Comme des Garçon exhibit at the Met Gala, Katy Perry wore a Margiela men's coat designed by Galliano, cut so that you could see the underdress underneath. It was a layered look that felt pulled back, like you were seeing elements of the outfit you weren't intended to see, and it quickly became one of Galliano's signatures at the brand. It's imperfectly perfect."—TG
...Followed by a Godly Rihanna Look for the 2018 Met Gala
"If there’s any designer alive who could inspire religious fervor, it’s John Galliano. Perhaps that’s why Rihanna tapped him to construct her look for the 2018 Met Gala, of which she was co-chair. Duly following that year’s exhibition theme, 'Heavenly Bodies,' Rihanna’s look instantly went viral when she arrived at the carpeted steps, dressed as a couture pope in a rhinestone-encrusted coat, minidress, and papal hat."—Chelsey Sanchez, Editor
Dressing With Haste for Spring 2018
"When I think of dressing in haste, I think of Galliano at Margiela. All of his collections felt alive, like the models were passing down the runway on their way to their everyday life. Spring 2018—which had a literal 'dressing in haste' theme—perfectly encapsulates this idea, with looks that felt like they were put together on the go, accessorized with luxury leather neck pillows and bags complete with airline boarding tags."—TG
A Signature Cut-Out Technique Emerging for Spring 2020
"During his time at Margiela, Galliano began experimenting with cut-outs. He considers them to be cut into 'different rhythms,' as he would put it, depending on how many holes are cut. Sometimes the cut-outs would just dot the garment; other times they would encircle the piece entirely, like they did for a handful of colorful gowns for Spring 2020. The holes transformed something standard into something subversive, giving each piece a sense of true nonchalance." —TG
Leon Dame’s Viral Walk for Spring 2020
“The model walks at any Galliano show have always been special, but Galliano was able to really recreate that energy from the ‘90s—where models really walked—recently with Leon Dame at Margiela. I’ll never forget how his unique slinky strut, which he created in tandem with movement director Pat Boguslawski, went more viral in 2019 than any other celebrity moment that Paris Fashion Week. It felt like what people have been asking for from fashion: storytelling and raw emotion and real feeling.”—TG
The Cinematic Spectacle of the Spring 2024 Couture Show...
“When I saw the first clip of John Galliano’s most recent couture show for Margiela back in January, I assumed it was an old video from the ’90s. A model was teetering off-kilter down a dimly lit street, her arms flailing as if attached to puppet strings. She wore a voluminous white blazer, with a black ribbed net wrapped around her like a web.
The whimsical, ample silhouettes; the over-the-top drama; the sense of spectacle—it all looked like the kind of show Galliano was famous for staging in the days before the internet took over. But then I saw another clip of the same scene, with model Leon Dame clutching at his lapels while sprinting down the street-as-runway. And then another of actor Gwendoline Christie, face painted like a porcelain doll, wearing a clear, tiered latex gown. As it turns out, the show had not taken place decades ago, but in January in Paris, on the last night of Couture Week, in the year 2024. The show was Galliano going back to his roots and reinvigorating everyone’s love for fashion by reminding them what a fashion show could be: a theatrical masterpiece.”—TG
...and Its Iconic Porcelain Doll Glassy Makeup
“I think about the glass skin makeup look created by Pat McGrath for the Margiela Spring 2024 couture show every other day when I am doing my own makeup. It was just so ethereal, I still cannot believe it was real. It’s also just a prime example of the way that Galliano doesn’t just create beautiful, exceptionally made garments but an entire universe where no detail is spared in a way that is so rare to see in fashion right now.”—TG
A Red Carpet Moment with Hunter Shaefer
"A few weeks after John Galliano’s Spring 2024 couture show, Hunter Schafer teamed up with stylist Dara Smith to become the first celebrity of the season to wear a look from the collection on the red carpet. The silhouette was influenced by the Victorian era but with a modern twist, and Schafer leaned in with a messy up-do and pink eyeshadow. The look was complete with Tabi shoes, fully solidifying this moment as one to remember."-JC
Followed by Zendaya In Custom Couture at the 2024 Met Gala
"Zendaya fans waited with baited breath to see what she would wear to this year's Met Gala, which had the theme 'Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion'—and it only feels right that she opted for a custom piece by Galliano for Margiela. The dress was inspired by a Dior Spring 1999 dress featuring similar grape details and stripes, a reminder of Galliano's impressive archive, which he is always referencing no matter where he goes."—TG
...and All of the Tabis Along the Way
“Everything in fashion works like a domino effect. (Need a reminder? Just watch Meryl Streep’s 'Cerulean sweater' monologue from The Devil Wears Prada.) So when a woman went viral on TikTok for her story about a date who stole her Tabis, it wasn’t technically tied to Galliano—but it couldn't have happened without him. During his tenure at Maison Margiela, Galliano popularized the split-toe shoe, first launched by the house in 1988, by offering all sorts of variations that made the once-controversial footwear a celebrity staple.
These days, everyone from Dua Lipa to Cardi B is wearing Tabis out on the street. And now, they’re even sparking heated discourse on TikTok. To me, the beauty of Galliano’s work is that it’s simultaneously freaky, fresh, absurd, mainstream, and niche. It’s making a statement while also somehow being part of a trend. It’s talking about $1,000 boots with your young, broke friends in the comments section of a TikTok.”—Joel Calfee, Editorial and Social Media Assistant
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