Last month, all heads in the fashion world turned to Paris, where designer John Galliano debuted his spring 2024 Maison Margiela couture collection. It was a total spectacle, from the doll-faced makeup looks (ooh) to the snatched silhouettes and corsetry (ahh). Theatricality in fashion was back, and so too, it seemed, was Galliano.
In 2011, Gallianoâs career as creative director of Dior abruptly came to an end after video footage came out of him making antisemitic and racist remarks at a cafe in Paris. (He was heavily abusing alcohol and drugs at the time, and now has little memory of that or similar incidents.) Four years later, however, with the support of several powerful industry figures, he returned to the fashion world at the helm of Margiela.
On March 8, a new documentary on the life and work of Galliano is being released on Mubi, aptly titled High & Low given the extreme peaks and valleys of his career. Hamish Bowles, a longtime friend of the designerâs and editor in chief of The World of Interiors (besides being Vogueâs global editor at large), joined the podcast alongside the filmâs director, Kevin Macdonald, to discuss Gallianoâs legacy. For Macdonald, the project marked a first foray into fashion, and he talked about reconciling the lore heâd heard about this genius âenfant terribleâ with the man he came to know through over 20 hours of interviews while filming the documentary.
Also in this episode, Chioma headed to the London podcast studio with British Vogue writers Alex Kessler and Daniel Rodgers to unpack their standout moments of London Fashion Week, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. Among their favorite shows? Aaron Esh, Talia Byre, Tolu Coker, JW Anderson, Burberry, Dilara Findikoglu, Jawara Alleyne, and Simone Rocha.