By Sandra Hall
HIGH & LOW – JOHN GALLIANO ★★★★
(M) 116 minutes
The ugly side of John Galliano’s character is on full display in the opening moments of Kevin Macdonald’s documentary biopic High & Low. It’s 2011, and he’s in a Parisian cafe directing an antisemitic rant at a couple at the next table, his delivery slurred and his face distorted.
John Galliano in his garden in Beauvais, France. The designer’s public rehabilitation is complete.
This notorious encounter cost him his fashion career – at least for a while. It’s since been restored to life, helped along by the powerful influence of Vogue’s Anna Wintour, Andre Leon Talley and Condé Nast. Were they right to stick by him? It’s a question that crystallises the dilemma that arises when any admired artist indulges in conduct that is widely considered to be repugnant. In other words, it’s a moral tale – or, in this case, an amoral one, since Galliano emerges from Macdonald’s film as being naively tone-deaf to society’s sensitivities. Yet, it’s also clear he inspires great affection in those who have worked with him.
Like so many stories about bad behaviour, this one begins in childhood. In the lengthy interview that underpins the film, Galliano says he knew in adolescence he was homosexual. So did his parents, expressing such disgust that his first instinct was to flee. Leaving home as early as he could, he enrolled in St Martin’s School of Design, where his talent was confirmed. And from there, it was a swift rise to the top.
Despite his gift for cut and tailoring, the word “wearable” played a minimal role in his early style. It was all about fantasy, theatricality – and crucially, escapism – which meant the spectacular success of shows did little for sales. Nonetheless, the fashion conglomerate LVMH made him head designer at Givenchy before moving on to an even bigger job at Dior, where he suffered his dizzying fall from grace.
John Galliano at the Dior archives in Paris. He was chief designer at the French fashion house when he fell from grace.
There were early signs of his ability to screen himself from life’s harsher realities. Amanda Harlech, an early friend and collaborator, recalls her distress when Galliano allowed Stephen Robinson, his chief lieutenant, to edge her out of the business. And he was astonished when his bizarre “hobo chic” collection sparked protests because it was seen as making fun of the homeless.
Macdonald draws on footage going back decades, and the self-deprecating young man of Galliano’s student years has an innocence at odds with the preening peacock of his heyday. By then, his face had been coarsened by alcohol, but the self-deprecation persisted – in flashes.
It was Robinson’s death that started his slide. He recalls the long hours of work and longer hours of drinking and now says he’s horrified by the person in the footage. He seems amazed when told that there were three separate outbursts of racial name-calling at the bar. Philippe Virgitti, one of his victims, is Asian, and while Galliano’s long period of rehabilitation included a course in Jewish history and the Holocaust, there doesn’t seem to have been any such courtesy paid to Virgitti, who is still waiting for a personal apology.
High & Low – John Galliano is released in cinemas on June 6.
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.