It’s official: British fashion designer John Galliano has been selected for a career-spanning exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that will open in spring 2027.
The move to give Galliano’s work a coveted spotlight in the Met’s Costume Institute — an exhibition that serves as the centerpiece for the annual Met Gala, makes him the third living designer to receive a solo exhibition at the Met. The honour was previously bestowed upon Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons in 2017.
“There is no one more deserving of an exhibition of this scale than John Galliano,” said Anna Wintour, Chief Content Officer, Condé Nast, Global Editorial Director, Vogue. “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.” Wintour went on: “He’s a great designer and his career isn’t defined by a moment—something that he will live with for the rest of his life. 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.”
“John Galliano: Horizons” is expected to cover the start at his namesake label before he segued to culture-shifting work at Givenchy and later, Dior, where he led the famed house for nearly 15 years as creative director from October 1996 through March 2011. More recently, he has led Maison Margiela from 2014 through 2024.
Per a detailed in a press release and an exclusive report from The New York Times’ Vanessa Friedman — the Met’s exhibition is not meant to present “a conventional narrative of disgrace and redemption” but rather “how aesthetic achievement, ethical accountability and institutional recognition intersect.” In addition to his accountability for the drunken tirade, Galliano has also said recovery has been key to this new chapter of his life after alcoholism and drug addiction caused turmoil in the previous era.
“John Galliano has exerted a profound influence on fashion over the past four decades,” offered Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French director and CEO, in a statement. “His work brings historical inquiry, artistic imagination, theatrical expression and technical experimentation into dynamic relation. Drawing upon the depth of The Costume Institute’s scholarship and the breadth of The Met’s collections, ‘John Galliano: Horizons’ will offer an expansive examination of his creative practice while attending closely to the historical, cultural and ethical circumstances through which his work is understood.”
Per NYT‘s Friedman, the decision did not come easily or expeditiously. She reports that Galliano, Met Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton, Vogue global editorial director Anna Wintour (a longtime Galliano champion), and a “handful of influential rabbis and Jewish leaders in New York City” met for a closed-door meeting in May to discuss the possibility of a Galliano exhibit. Friedman reported that it was “one of several such meetings” held with Jewish leaders over the past year.
According to a press release, Galliano’s exhibit will be divided into three sections, “Bearings,” “Horizons” and “Atlas of Transformation.” It will be accompanied by a catalog penned by Bolton, published by The Met and distributed internationally by Yale University Press.
When will the “John Galliano: Horizons” exhibit run?
While the exact dates have yet to be announced, The Costume Institute’s spring 2027 “John Galliano: Horizons” exhibit is expected to be on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City from the beginning of May until October, 2027.
What about previous themes?
The theme of the Costume Institute’s 2026 exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was entitled “Costume Art.” Prior to that past themes included: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” (2025), “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” (2024), “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” (2023), “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” (2022), “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” (2021), “Camp: Notes on Fashion” (2019), and “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” (2018).
The history of the annual Met Gala
The Costume Institute houses a collection of more than 35,000 costumes and accessories spanning five continents and just as many centuries, and is the only curatorial department at the famed Met in NYC that has to finance its own activities. The annual gala is its biggest fundraiser. Click here to read THE STORY OF: The Annual Met Gala for a little context on the fashion industry’s most important party.
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