charts the rise and fall of one of Britain’s most successful high fashion designers.
However, while his professional career continued to flourish, behind the scenes, John was struggling. Deep in the throes of addiction, his problems were exacerbated by the grief of losing his close friend and colleague Steven Robinson – all of which culminated in a spectacular downfall. In 2011, his career abruptly ended when he was caught on camera hurling antisemitic and racist insults at bystanders outside Paris’s Café La Perle. This was just one of three separate incidents.
“One of the things I’m proudest of with the film is that no matter what people think about the other issues, almost everybody seems to come out saying, ‘God, he’s a genius.’ Even friends of mine who don’t know anything about fashion come and say, ‘Wow, this man is a genius. I now understand fashion in a way I didn’t before and I appreciate it.’ I’m really pleased with that aspect of the film.
Featuring extensive interviews with Galliano himself, alongside conversations with close friends Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Penélope Cruz, Charlize Theron, Anna Wintour, Edward Enninful and more, Macdonald says that he was surprised by how many famous people were happy to be involved. “I think that’s a sign of the loyalty and the warmth they felt towards John.
“There are people who are never going to feel that, who are too hurt, who are too offended by what he said. And it was horrendous what he said, it was the worst form of anti-semitism but you can feel both things at once. You can say, ‘On the one hand, this happened, it was horrible. But on the other hand, he makes beautiful things and he’s really, really good at doing it, he should be allowed to do what he loves’. I think Robin’s point is that that contradiction can exist.