British designer John Galliano will no longer be the subject of the upcoming Costume Institute exhibition that was scheduled to take place in spring at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The museum, together with John Galliano, released a statement this morning stating that the Spring 2027 exhibition devoted to his four-decade oeuvre will not proceed as planned.
“John Galliano: Horizons” was initially announced on July 31, 2026, and was intended to showcase garments, accessories, sketches, toiles, research books, and archival materials stretching across Galliano’s career, from his “Les Incroyables” Central Saint Martins graduate collection of 1984 to his work for the Paris couture houses Givenchy and Dior to his final blockbuster show for Maison Margiela. The Galliano exhibit would have been only the third retrospective of a living designer at the Costume Institute, following Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Comme des Garcons’s Rei Kawakubo in 2017.
Few designers’ work is as universally admired at Galliano’s, so within the fashion community there was great excitement, however local political and civic leaders raised concerns after the exhibition was announced. Galliano was fired from Dior in 2011 and found guilty of “public insults” based on origin, religion, race or ethnicity after videos emerged of the designer saying “I love Hitler” and ranting antisemitic abuse at a café in Paris. The Met Gala, which is held on the first Monday in May, would fall next year on Yom HaShoah, a day of Holocaust remembrance.
“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 in a statement released Monday. “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.” Galliano did “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,” the statement continued.
Andrew Bolton, the curator of the Met’s Costume Institute, said in a statement issued by the museum that he recognized “the pain and concern this exhibition has caused.” He continued: “After extensive discussion, I support the decision not to proceed.” Wintour, who is also chief content officer at Condé Nast and has spearheaded the organization of the Met Gala since 1995, said that Galliano’s decision to pull out of the showcase was “very courageous and a measure of the man he is.”
“I believe this is the right decision,” Wintour said.
This is not the first time the Met Gala has been at the center of controversy. When the late Karl Lagerfeld was announced as the subject for the Costume Institute exhibition in 2023, his problematic comments disparaging the #MeToo movement, refugees and plus-sized bodies were resurfaced as evidence against his celebration. The exhibit ultimately went forward and “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” ran in 2023 paying tribute to the late designer.
As for Galliano and the future of next year’s exhibition and gala, the museum said on Monday that details about “a new spring Costume Institute exhibition and the 2027 Met Gala will be announced at a later date.”
