Disgraced designer John Galliano's return from the wilderness as creative director at the avant-garde house of Maison Martin Margiela has the fashion world holding its breath.
The Gibraltar-born designer is considered one of the fashion geniuses of his generation, an unconventional, dramatic and dazzling talent. Diesel founder Renzo Rosso, Margiela's owner, is a fellow maverick in the industry and has made no secret of his admiration for Galliano in the wake of his fall from grace.
Galliano's new gig is a big step for the brand, too. Founded by Belgian Martin Margiela, possibly the most reclusive fashion designer in recent memory, the house's label codes were based on a sort of introversion and progressive deconstruction of fashion.
The anti-bling house represented fresh ground-shaking style that spoke volumes with deafening quiet among industry din. Its founder never allowed himself to be photographed, and even after resigning from the brand, the label never appointed a creative director or leading name, instead operating design through the "studio" collective. So there is a hint of irony that Galliano (right), known for acting like a peacock at catwalk finales, is taking the helm at a brand that celebrates anonymity. Perhaps without his banishment and newfound sense of humility, this might never have happened.
Galliano's re-entry into fashion and inevitably, public life, has been tentative - and with good reason. Much of the focus on his anti-Semitic slurs in 2011 remains and the road to redemption is by no means complete for the creative mastermind. Galliano was condemned globally and ejected from his top job at Christian Dior on the eve of Paris Fashion Week as videos of his racist rant in a bar went viral. He was then found guilty by a Paris court for shouting anti-Semitic insults in public, fined but spared jail.