He became internationally acclaimed during the 80s, one of the spearheads of British designers who swept the fashion world in that decade. With Galliano Girl and Galliano Genes, he developed clothes for the younger set of his mainline buyers. 

When Christian Dior was bought by LVMH, Bernard Arnault offered Galliano the House of Dior. It has been an ideal marriage since then. John Galliano revitalized the House of Dior, made it more contemporary and totally redefined the meaning of the "New Look." 

John Galliano Fall 2001 

Paris, Mar 16, 2001/FWD/ --- John Galliano returned to his early days as a designer in an uneven Fall 2001 signature collection that nonetheless contained many gems. 
"It's like I'm back in 1985," Galliano told old friends and admirers, referring to his first years out of design school. 

Staged on a shiny lacquered catwalk in the Paris Empire Theatre and accompanied by the ever-excellent music of Jeremy Healy, the show drew Jay-Z, pal Damon Dash and their eight bodyguards. One massive behemoth stood sentry behind his musical charges, surreally dwarfing the petite, thin-boned French editors until the lights darkened. 

The collection, which was all done with laser cuts, had a wonderful finale with some of the prettiest dresses seen anywhere this year. The opening passages, however, were a little problematic: filled with clownish check pants and jackets of comic book colors. Among these jesters were some fine denim frock coats and short jackets with raglan sleeves that would make many outfits swing. John has been tapping comic strip imagery for some time in his fashion and even took his applause wearing a similar look. 

The models swung out briskly, their shoulders twisting back and forth in poses. It was all so different from Galliano's early shows in Paris where they emoted like lost demoiselles. 

John does have a weakness for veils, sending out several veiled dresses over black cat suits that you couldn't imagine many women wearing off a runway. But suddenly, the British designer hit his stride with deconstructed military jackets in green and red satin, and high-collared leather frock coats with beautiful perforations. His "classic" ideas now look contemporary. 

The show also unveiled a neat new Galliano bag - a flattened oval shape, almost strapped to the hand. But nothing was as stunning as some artfully deconstructed floral Edwardian gowns, one of which was simply beautiful on Alek Wek. According to stylists, some Galliano dresses are so complicated it can take half an hour to put them on a model. But if you look this good it's worth the effort. 

Fall 2001 Dior Pret-a-Porter

Paris, Mar 13, 2001/ FWD/ --- Everything was a little twisted at the Christian Dior show Tuesday, though in the ever-inventive world of its designer John Galliano that's how it should be. 

Supermodels sat beside the catwalk rather than walked on it; cultures collided on the soundtrack and garments from many epochs appeared in the same outfit. Galliano was certainly in fighting form. He even took his applause bronzed and stripped to the waist, wearing green leather boxing pants. 

A typical outfit went something like this: Knitted leggings and T-shirt under a transparent lace dress beneath a reversible mink coat embroidered with flowers and topped by a football-sized tam-o'shanter covered by a veil. 

The Dior girl for fall is into graffiti - in a big way - and struts about in hugely flared pants and even anoraks, all in multi-color pop collages. An ironic homage perhaps, given that tonight sees the opening of a huge Pop Art retrospective in the Centre Pompidou sponsored by rival Yves Saint Laurent. 

In between all the madness, there were plenty of great clothes: snappy pinstripe pantsuits with beautiful silk fabric inserts; yellow fur bombers and hippie Indian mirrored hipsters. 

Galliano's Dior always has a good front row and this show was no different. On one side sat freshly sheared Kate Moss, on the other Chloe Sevigny, in pride of place beside Dior patron Bernard Arnault. His wife Helene wore a "J'Adore Dior" T-shirt under a redingote pantsuit. 

For the finale, every model carried a bag: brilliant soft transistor radio clutches, fake stony weekend sacks, blue logo totes and Dior's auto bag, though this time in fur. In short, plenty for Monsieur Arnault to smile about.