John Galliano took a dramatic fall from grace (getting fired from Christian Dior over several anti-Semitic rants), endured an uneventful fashion exile, and then slowly began to work his way back with a co-designing gig at Oscar de la Renta this year.
Then he stepped out in what appeared to be a Hasidic-themed outfit and everything fell apart again.
The controversial outfit, which Galliano wore the day of his big Oscar de la Renta comeback this week, reignited the conversation around the designer's ill-advised behavior and his subsequent forgiveness. In an interview on HuffPost Live today, Barneys Creative Ambassador-at-Large Simon Doonan and stylist Mary Alice Stephenson both argued that Galliano did not intend to offend with his questionable outfit.
"I mean, John's dressed like that for the past 25 years," said Mary Alice. "I think it was innocently done," added Simon.
Nor were the designer's anti-Semitic comments two years ago born from a hateful place, they add.
"He was in the middle of a very problematic addiction," Doonan noted, referring to the moment in early 2011 when Galliano's pro-Hitler rants were caught on tape. Mary Alice adds, "That was the addiction speaking."
John Januzzi, Contributing Digital Editor at Lucky, also put in his two cents, taking a slightly more critical stance. "I find the remarks that he made... I have a very hard time forgiving those," he said. "I thought they were pretty horrifying."
"He thought they were horrifying," interjected Doonan.
Do you agree? The jury is still out on the designer, who is only beginning to be re-embraced by the fashion industry. Watch the interview above and sound off in the comments. Should John Galliano be forgiven and welcomed back with open arms?
The outfit in question:
See more of Galliano's flamboyant style:
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