John Galliano's resignation from the major retrospective that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York intended to dedicate to him in 2027 did not come out of the blue. For weeks, the museum faced intense pressure, including continuous harassment, criticism from the Jewish community, and threats from donors, which ultimately made the project unviable.
Vanessa Friedman, Fashion Director and Chief Fashion Critic of The New York Times, one of the most influential voices in international criticism, together with journalist Jacob Bernstein, revealed just days before Galliano's announcement the earthquake that was taking place around the project.
The pressure included the rejection from Jewish community leaders, unrest among museum patrons, and growing doubts about the appropriateness of turning the designer's career into one of the major cultural events of the year. The donors threatened to withdraw their financial support if the retrospective went ahead.
