Met Museum cancels John Galliano exhibition after backlash

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Monday that it will not proceed with "John Galliano: Horizons," the spring 2027 Costume Institute exhibition it had announced in late July. The museum said the decision was made with Galliano and that a new spring exhibition and Met Gala information will be shared later. Galliano was fired from Christian Dior in 2011 and found guilty of antisemitic behavior by a French court that year; in a statement distributed by the Met, he said he decided "with great sadness" the show should not take place "at this time".

This cancellation unfolded amid a wider museum effort to use clothing to explore cultural history. In an August 14 article, TheCollector argued that the best fashion museums now rival fine art institutions for emotional impact and credited the Costume Institute, especially Alexander McQueen's "Savage Beauty" attendance record in 2011, with making fashion taken seriously as art. The Costume Institute's collection holds 33,000-plus costumes and accessories covering seven centuries, and the publication also highlighted the free Museum at FIT in New York with 50,000 garments, the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto with nearly 15,000 exhibits telling a 4,500-year story, and the single-designer Cristóbal Balenciaga Museoa and Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech. BBC News separately reported that Shambellie House near New Abbey, formerly Scotland's National Museum of Costume, is again displaying costumes, with about ten of 173 theatrical garments donated to the Dumfries Theatre Royal placed around the house rather than behind glass; the report said the run has been extended until at least early October.

The Galliano show's path began in late July, when the Met and Anna Wintour announced "John Galliano: Horizons." In a July 31 statement to Vogue, Wintour said his work "combines erudition and creativity, darkness and light". E! News noted that the exhibition would make Galliano just the third living designer with a solo Costume Institute show, following Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Comme des Garçons' Rei Kawakubo in 2017. Curator Andrew Bolton said the exhibition would examine "how Galliano has remapped the world through fashion and how his conduct, its consequences, and changing cultural values have reshaped our understanding of his work".

Before the announcement, the Met met with Jewish leaders, including Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Rabbi Rick Jacobs, because Galliano is "as famous for his antisemitic rant in 2011 as he is for his fashion," according to ARTnews. Greenblatt said his group has "long since accepted his apology," and Jacobs called Galliano's manner sincere. Bolton said, "I completely understand why the timing might feel particularly difficult now" and that the museum must confront ethical accountability. The New York Times's Vanessa Friedman wrote that there were plans to send the show to other institutions after the Met, ARTnews reported. Oui Speak Fashion described the exhibition's three parts: "Bearings," which would face Galliano's 2010 and 2011 conduct, including his dismissal and conviction; "Horizons," which would explore his inspirations; and "Atlas of Transformation," which would trace his creative process. The show was scheduled to run from May 9, 2027, to January 9, 2028, at The Met Fifth Avenue.

On Monday, the museum and Galliano announced the cancellation. In the Met's statement, Galliano said he remained "fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past" and that "meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition". Anna Wintour called his decision "very courageous" and "the right decision". A replacement spring exhibition will be announced later, according to the museum.