Anti-Defamation League defends Galliano against 'Shmuck' headline

Designer John Galliano didn't appear at New York Fashion Week, but he made headlines there anyway.

Galliano landed on the New York Post front page with the headline "Shmuck!" on Wednesday with a photo of the designer wearing a hat and ringlets described as resembling those of a Hasidic Jew. Galliano was fired from Christian Dior two years ago after an anti-Semitic rant was caught on video, and the tabloid said the outfit "ignited a new round of outrage".

Galliano's representative was not available for comment, but Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, leapt to his defence.

"Here is a man who made a mistake and he's been on a pilgrimage to try to learn and repair. And people instead of embracing his return are trying to distort and destroy him," Foxman said.

Galliano has been in New York working at the studio of Oscar de la Renta, who invited the designer to return to fashion for the first time since the incident in Paris in which the drunk designer hurled insults a café diners.

Foxman pointed out that Galliano was wearing blue, not black like a Hasid, and a gray hat without the standard wide brim. "This is John Galliano, OK? He dresses eccentric," Foxman said. "He has long hair, not peyos (traditional sidelocks worn by Hasids)."

Galliano said he is a recovering alcoholic, and has continued to express his sorrow for causing pain to the Jewish community.