John Galliano Cancels His Own Met Retrospective Amid Backlash

John Galliano has pulled the plug on his own retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, canceling a show that had drawn mounting public anger over his past racist and antisemitic conduct.

The designer announced the decision on Instagram on 31 August 2026, saying he acted "with great sadness" and did not want the debate surrounding him to put the Met in a difficult position or distract from the Costume Institute's work. Max Hollein, director and chief executive of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, said in a statement that the decision was made jointly after "thoughtful discussions" with Galliano (WWD).

The exhibition, titled "John Galliano: Horizons," was scheduled to run from 9 May 2027 to 9 January 2028 at The Met Fifth Avenue. It would have been only the third solo monographic retrospective devoted to a living designer at the Costume Institute, after Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Rei Kawakubo in 2017 — a tiny and prestigious group. The accompanying 2027 Met Gala, the museum's annual fundraising gala, had been tentatively set for 3 May.

The Met announced the show on 31 July 2026, and praise came from some fashion insiders. But the backlash built quickly. Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council, sent a letter to Hollein, curator Andrew Bolton, and Anna Wintour calling the exhibition "a serious mistake." The New York Times ran a front-page story on 28 August 2026 about the growing furor. By late August, WWD reported that museum overseers were already considering changing the gala's date amid the controversy.

At the centre of the dispute is conduct from 2010 and 2011, when Galliano was filmed making antisemitic, racist, and anti-Asian remarks in a Paris bar. The incidents led to his dismissal from Christian Dior — the French luxury house owned by LVMH — and from his own label, and to a 2011 conviction by a Paris court for public insults based on race, religion, ethnicity, or origin. The planned retrospective was to address that rupture directly, along with Galliano's subsequent treatment for substance addiction and his later public acknowledgment of his actions.

In his Instagram statement, Galliano said he remains "fully accountable" for the pain caused by his past words, "particularly the hurt caused to the Jewish and Asian communities," and remains "deeply sorry." He added that "meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition, or a single public gesture," but is a continuing responsibility demonstrated through listening, learning, and one's conduct over time.

Anna Wintour, the longtime Condé Nast editor who oversees the Met Gala, had championed the exhibition and pushed for a Costume Institute show devoted to Galliano's career. That effort gained fresh urgency after his spring 2024 Artisanal collection for Maison Margiela, the Paris house where Galliano has served as creative director since 2014.

The Met said information on a replacement spring Costume Institute exhibition and the 2027 Met Gala will be revealed at a later date.