The disgraced designer returned as an intern for the American favourite, and stamped his signature eccentricity across the entire collection
The name on the invite, as the audience took their seats for the most talked-about show of New York fashion week, was Oscar de la Renta – but the name on everyone's lips was John Galliano. Since news broke last month that the 80-year-old godfather of American uptown fashion had invited the disgraced ex-Dior designer for an internship, the industry has been curious to discover whether this was merely a generous gesture, or a mouthwatering creative collaboration between two wildly different designers. The timing of the placement – in the crucial month before fashion week, when a collection is brought to life – was intriguing.
Shortly before the show, news filtered from backstage that Galliano was in situ, working alongside de la Renta. Yet his name did not appear among the 11 design assistants credited on the programme. On a front row that included Diane Von Furstenberg and Valentino, the gossip centred on one question: would Galliano accompany De la Renta on his final bow, acknowledging a degree of authorship of the collection, or would the internship turn out to be a mere footnote in the De la Renta story?
As it turned out, Galliano did not make a catwalk appearance. But then, he didn't need to: by the end of the show, the British designer had, to all intents and purposes, made his comeback. While the show remained recognisably De la Renta, Galliano's handwriting was clearly visible in many elements: from the confident eccentricity and sinuous movement of the jewel-coloured stretch flannel skirt-suits topped with theatrical lampshade-cloche hats, to the liquid slink of a bias-cut velvet gown in poison green. Furthermore, as the show progressed, there were deliberate winks from the hair and makeup team, surely designed to emphasise links with Galliano's past collections: oiled and lacquered 1940s curls, and mouths painted into rosebud Kabuki-kisses of blood-red crimson.
It was a comeback by sleight of hand, and one that would be a feather in the hat of the most highly strategic spin doctor. By making his reappearance at intern level, Galliano has shown a humility which will help smooth his rehabilitation – but under the wing of De la Renta, he has been able to offer his creations at a blue-chip show, without an ugly tussle to persuade the industry to attend his show. The blessing of De la Renta, who this year marks his 50th anniversary designing clothes in New York, has given Galliano a foothold into a world from which his infamous antisemitic drunken rant in a Paris bar had cut him adrift. Crucially, the De la Renta brand, a favourite of first ladies and Hollywood stars, is redolent of two qualities Galliano sorely needs to recover: respectability and class.
But Galliano's comeback was a collaboration, not a coup. The Oscar de la Renta flag flew high throughout the show: in the perfectly judged, immaculately cut sleeves ending slightly above the elbow; the chic cut of skirts hemmed just at the knee; the mink sweaters. The fabulous embellished gowns in sumptuous organzas and tulles embodied De la Renta's distinctive eveningwear style, a kind of Manhattan baroque. Indeed, there was a sense that what made the Galliano elements in this collection sing was that De la Renta, with his innate sense of propriety, imposed an aesthetic structure in which the Galliano madness was never allowed to spiral out of control. There was a nice balance of looseness and restraint; of drama and discipline. After all, as even the most amateur student of psychology will tell you, all of us benefit from us boundaries.
In an interview in the current issue of New York magazine, De la Renta gives an open-ended answer to the question of whether Galliano's placement at the house might be extended. "I would love for him to stay. Will he? I cannot tell you that today. Because we haven't gone that far in really discussing it … So the answer is we don't know. We're still exploring." At 80 years old, the designer is aware there is the delicate issue of an eventual successor in the air. Asked for his feelings on the situation, John Galliano himself told the interviewer simply: "I love it here."