Metropolitan Museum Cancels John Galliano Exhibition Ahead of 2027 Met Gala
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has cancelled its planned exhibition of fashion designer John Galliano, which was to coincide with the 2027 Met Gala, the museum's annual fundraising event that opens the Costume Institute's spring show each May.
The decision follows weeks of backlash from the Jewish community and beyond over Galliano's history of antisemitic and racist statements, which were captured on video in 2010 and 2011 and circulated widely online (AP News). A French court found Galliano guilty of antisemitic behaviour in 2011, a conviction the New York Times characterised as a hate-crime finding for his outbursts that year (New York Times).
Galliano, once the creative director of the Paris fashion house Christian Dior, was dismissed from that role after the videos surfaced. The footage showed him making abusive remarks to patrons in a Paris café.
The Met had reportedly been planning to honour Galliano as the subject of its 2027 Costume Institute exhibition, a slot that effectively crowns the year's Met Gala theme. Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor who oversees the gala, had championed the choice, according to Page Six (Page Six).
Word of the planned tribute drew swift criticism. Deadline reported in early August that Wintour and other Met Gala organisers had already met with Jewish leaders and rabbis to discuss Galliano's past remarks ahead of the gala (Deadline). The New York Times followed on 28 August with a report detailing the growing opposition from critics who argued that elevating Galliano would gloss over his convictions.
By 31 August, the Met confirmed the exhibition would not go forward. The New York Times, AP, ABC News and US News & World Report all reported the cancellation on that date. The museum has not named a replacement subject for the 2027 exhibition, nor said whether the Met Gala itself — which raises millions of dollars annually for the Costume Institute — will proceed under a different theme.
The cancellation arrives at a moment when institutions across the art and fashion worlds are being pressed to weigh creative achievement against documented harm. Galliano returned to fashion after his conviction, designing for the Paris-based house Maison Margiela under its owner OTB Group, and has attracted renewed industry acclaim in recent years. But the episodes that ended his Dior tenure have followed him, and they proved impossible to separate from the honour the Met had planned to bestow.
