Anna Wintour’s plan to honour designer John Galliano with the 2027 Met Gala and accompanying Costume Institute exhibition has collapsed, with Galliano himself announcing his withdrawal from the project on Instagram this week amid mounting backlash.
“After much reflection and discussion with all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time,” Galliano wrote.
“I do not want the debate surrounding me to place the Met in a difficult position or to distract from the remarkable work of the Costume Institute. I also recognise and respect that an exhibition my work would be painful for some.”
The controversy centers on Galliano’s 2011 conviction in France for antisemitic and anti-Asian remarks made during a rant at a Paris bar, for which he was fined roughly $8,500.
Wintour had defended her decision to honour him earlier this summer, telling Vogue: “There is no one more deserving of an exhibition of this scale than John Galliano. His body of work, at Dior, Givenchy, Margiela, his namesake label and more, combines erudition and creativity, darkness and light, the past, the present, the future all smashing together in a brilliant way.”
She added at the time that the exhibition wouldn’t shy away from his history.
“The exhibition won’t shy away from any of the darkness in John’s past. It’s part of what has shaped him. The show will take in the full arc of his career and grapple with all of it.”
Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton echoed that framing, saying the show would directly examine Galliano’s “conduct, its consequences, and changing cultural values.”
Despite that defense, pressure continued to build over the following weeks, culminating in Galliano’s withdrawal.
In her response to his decision, Wintour praised the move as courageous, saying she believed it was “the right decision” and that Galliano retained her “full support,” while continuing to describe him as one of the defining creative talents of his generation.
For Wintour, 76, who has presided over the Met Gala and its accompanying exhibition for more than three decades, the episode marks a rare public misstep, with some industry observers noting the fallout could mark the first real leadership test for Vogue‘s newer editor-in-chief, Chloe Malle, who has faced internal pressure over how directly to weigh in on the controversy.
