The documentary High & Low: the rise and fall of John Galliano traces the life and career of one of the greatest fashion designers of our time, John Galliano.
From Gibraltar where he was born in 1960, to London, where he began his career, via Paris, where he became the spectacular artistic director of Dior, John Galliano arouses admiration as well as controversy. In 2011, he was filmed in a café in Paris uttering anti-Semitic and racist insults, which ended his career. A few years later, after a conviction for anti-Semitic insults, an apology and a drug treatment, John Galliano returned as creative director of Maison Margiela and now leads a more discreet life.
For nearly two hours, through archive images and numerous interviews with Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Anna Wintour, but also with psychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik and Sidney Toledano, former general director of Dior, director Kevin Macdonald reveals the talent and genius of John Galliano and also exposes the less glamorous side of the designer and the fashion industry.
PHOTO BERTRAND RINDOFF PETROFF/BESTIMAGE, PROVIDED BY PRODUCTION
John Galliano and Anna Wintour in Paris in 1993
Between 1995 when he was appointed to Givenchy, then 1996 when he took the reins at Dior, and until 2011, John Galliano had a series of collections and reigned in the field. He is considered a true god of creation, his extravagant fashion shows overflow with imagination and he triples Dior’s turnover.
The pressure then became greater and greater, the collections multiplied, Galliano abused alcohol and medication. His behavior is causing concern and the fall will be dizzying in 2011. Should we forgive him for his comments and give him a second chance? For a few years, John Galliano withdrew from public life, he went to rehab and he explains that he tried to understand why he made these hateful comments, because he believes that he is not racist or anti-Semitic. Is it his strict Catholic upbringing? His unhappy childhood? Galliano also took classes with a rabbi on Jewish history. He even went to consult the psychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik, whose parents died in deportation and who himself escaped the Nazis.
Oscar de la Renta, Kate Moss and Anne Wintour helped John Galliano make his return to creation. Kevin Macdonald also takes the side of giving the creator a second chance. He is so talented, how could anyone deprive themselves of his talent? We would have liked the director to focus more on the fact that the fashion industry, which sells dreams, also participates in this madness by transforming designers into collection machines. And he doesn’t care much about their health, especially when their genius generates millions of dollars.
The film High & Low: the rise and fall of John Galliano is presented at the Cinémathèque québécoise.