Metropolitan Museum of Art scraps John Galliano-focused Met Gala plans

Next year’s Met Gala will not spotlight controversial fashion designer John Galliano after all.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Galliano announced in a joint statement that the museum would not move forward with John Galliano: Horizons. Galliano, 65, is a British designer who has worked for some of the industry’s top fashion houses, including Christian Dior, Givenchy, and Oscar de la Renta.

At the peak of his career, he served as Dior’s creative director for nearly 15 years. But in 2011, he was infamously canceled after his conviction in a Parisian court over a series of racist and antisemitic comments. It cost him his job leading Dior. At the time, Galliano said his alcohol abuse sparked the outburst.

The museum’s retrospective was reportedly going to highlight the fashion director’s portfolio while also addressing his personal life, including his public exile and the work he later did to atone and get sober.

“Following thoughtful discussions with many stakeholders and with John Galliano, we together have decided not to proceed with the exhibition,” said Metropolitan Museum of Art director Max Hollein.

The announcement came exactly one month after the initial Met Gala theme reveal. Galliano’s exhibit would have only been the third retrospective for a living designer in the Costume Institute’s history.

» READ MORE: Why is honoring John Galliano at next year's Met Gala controversial? We explain.

While fashion experts largely agreed the fashion director’s work is seminal, critics said the exhibit’s timing — which coincides with a global surge in antisemitism — was cause for concern.

Professional thrifter and fashion writer Virginia Chamlee previously told The Inquirer that while the Met was equipped to accurately cover the designer’s checkered past, she was concerned about whether the storytelling would resonate with the average Met Gala consumer.

The annual exhibit’s largest publicity draw is a televised red carpet where celebrities invited often wear pieces by or paying tribute to the spotlighted designer — not the exhibit itself.

“Even if the museum intends to offer a complete examination of Galliano’s complicated legacy, it may come off as a straightforward celebration of someone who said things so heinous and racist that they were charged and fired for them.”

In the joint statement, Galliano himself said he requested not to move forward with the exhibit.

“After much reflection and discussion with The Met and all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time,” Galliano said. “I remain fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the hurt I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities, and I remain deeply sorry for it. I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture. It is a continuing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning and one’s conduct over time.”

Galliano went on to thank Anna Wintour, a longtime champion of Galliano’s and the global editorial director of Vogue, chief content officer of Condé Nast, and Met Gala chairperson responsible for the event’s programming.

In her extended statement to Vogue, Wintour framed Horizons’ cancellation as a “postponement.”

“John’s decision to ask the Museum to postpone the exhibition devoted to his work is very courageous and a measure of the man he is,” she said. “I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the Museum have my full support.” The Met’s version of Wintour’s statement does not use that phrasing.

Information on a new Spring Costume Institute exhibition and the 2027 Met Gala will be announced later, the museum said. The Gala itself was initially scheduled to take place May 3, though it’s unclear if that date would shift in light of the exhibit change.