In the world of high fashion, few names have commanded as much attention — and controversy — as John Galliano. 

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, his sensual designs and runway theatrics earned him worldwide acclaim.But Galliano’s career imploded in 2011 when  a video of him emerged using antisemitic slurs. In a new documentary, “High & Low: John Galliano,” BAFTA-winning director Kevin Macdonald examines Galliano's meteoric rise, scandalous downfall, and the role of forgiveness and redemption.

“If there's one thing that people could take away from the film, it is [that] things are never that simple. The grey predominates in life and in morality,” says Macdonald.

This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks sits down with McDonald to discuss  the phenomenon of cancellation and his own feelings about Galliano after completing the documentary. 

Key Insights

• Alongside archive footage and interviews with industry insiders, the film features  extensive conversations with Galliano himself. Macdonald says  Galliano seemed to forget the series of events and antisemitic remarks he said. “I think he genuinely blotted that out. I don't think he's pretending not to remember. I think that it's a sign of him creating a story for himself about things that have happened … to get by,” Macdonald says.

• According to Macdonald, Galliano does not expect total forgiveness but hopes for understanding. “He knows some people will never forgive him for the antisemitic comments he made, but he wants people to understand who he is and where that came from and what part it had in the way it played in his life.” 

• Macdonald attributes the attention the film has received prior to its release to nostalgia for a bygone era. “I think there's a romance about this past where people were misbehaving and being creative geniuses and led to crash and burn and didn't have to answer to HR,” he says.

High & Low – John Galliano opens in cinemas on 8th March 2024.

Additional resources

• John Galliano: ‘I Feel Much Freer’
• John Galliano: Fashion’s Greatest Showman Turns Ciné-Auteur
• A Penitent John Galliano Talks to Charlie Rose About Childhood, Addiction and McQueen's Suicide

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