John Galliano’s genius and scandals to take center stage at The Met
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced that its spring 2027 Costume Institute exhibition will be dedicated to British fashion designer John Galliano, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The exhibition, titled John Galliano: Horizons, will open at The Met Fifth Avenue in New York on May 9, 2027, and remain on view until January 9, 2028.
It will be the first major museum exhibition to examine the full scope of Galliano’s four-decade career. The display will bring together garments, accessories, sketches, toiles, research books and archival materials.
Drawing extensively from the Costume Institute’s collection, the exhibition will trace Galliano’s career from his landmark 1984 graduation collection at Central Saint Martins in London to his work under his namesake label and at Givenchy, Christian Dior and Maison Margiela. It will conclude with his acclaimed spring/summer 2024 collection.
“John Galliano has exerted a profound influence on fashion over the past four decades,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and CEO.
According to Hollein, the exhibition will examine Galliano’s creative practice within the historical, cultural and ethical circumstances that have shaped public perceptions of his work.
The exhibition will also directly address Galliano’s antisemitic, racist and anti-Asian conduct in 2010 and 2011. The incidents led to his dismissal from Christian Dior and his own label, as well as his conviction by a Paris court for public insults based on race, religion, ethnicity or origin.
Organizers said the exhibition would explore how artistic achievement should be considered alongside ethical accountability, rather than presenting a conventional story of disgrace and redemption.
Curated by Andrew Bolton, Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute, the exhibition will be organized into three movements: Bearings, Horizons and Atlas of Transformation.
Bearings will connect Galliano’s career with wider historical and cultural developments while examining the controversy that reshaped his public image. Horizons will focus on his recurring sources of inspiration, including history, geography, art, storytelling and performance.
The final section, Atlas of Transformation, will explore Galliano’s creative process through research books, sketches, fittings, toiles and completed garments.
An illustrated catalogue written by Bolton will accompany the exhibition. It will be published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed internationally by Yale University Press.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency highlighted the standout moments from the 2026 Met Gala, held under the “Costume Art” theme.
