Is it Jail For John Galliano?

On Wednesday, 22nd June 2011, John Galliano appeared in court in Paris for charges of Racism and anti-Semitic remarks made earlier this year. These charges, if found guilty could lead him to face 6 months in prison and a fine of £21,000. 

John Galliano is one of those designers who can always deliver the fun, energetic side of fashion we all love, even dressing up as Napoleon and Marilyn Monroe for his shows but it was a totally different John Galliano that turned up at court on Wednesday. Dressed in a black three piece suit suit with a silk scarf tied stylishly around his neck, Galliano shuffled into his own trial looking lost in his own little world. 


The scene inside the courtroom was tense with media and plaintiffs hanging on every word uttered by John Galliano so that they could make better sense of the situation which has been blown completely out of proportion to the media. There is a certain amount of irony attached to this case too, with Galliano's first collection being inspired by the French Revolution and now, finding himself set to loose it all in the same court room where Marie Antoinette was condemned to death by madame guillotine, the Palais de Justice.


In delicately spoken tones, Galliano detailed that he had been struggling for years with the pressures of "two children", Dior and his namesake company John Galliano, which caused him to turn to alcohol after any creative high as a way to escape. The pressure rose in 2008 when the recession hit and Galliano lost his closest friend and business partner Stephen Robinson who he said loved and protected him. Galliano says that when Stephen died, he burried him with his parents and returned to his studio to do his fittings. His father's death also affected him badly as he "really didn't take the time to mourn" which resulted in him turning to sleeping pills. He says he is in recovery but still in a bad state even after spending time in rehab in Arizona and Switzerland, however, he also goes on to say he has no recollection of that night in the Paris café, La Perlé, where he allegedly verbally abused a woman and her partner. This could be due to the immunity his body developed meaning that he could not actually function unless he took Valium. 


The court proceedings continued with the witnesses being called forward to tell their side of the story with one, a fashion student, saying that the insults "didn't bear any anti-Semitic things". The whole scene was then concluded by Galliano, after watching the video of the scene, saying that the man in the video "needs help, it is the shadow of John Galliano. I see a man that has been pushed to the edge." He continues to defend himself saying that he has fought against discrimination all his life and that you only have to look at his body of work to realize this. He even said he lived with a Masai tribe for some time.

The court session was concluded with John Galliano apologizing to the court room saying that racism has no place in our culture and that the event has caused so much hate and sadness..."the man you see up there (in the video) is not John Galliano." The court is still undecided on the matter but will make the verdict September 8th so we wait with bated breath to see what the result of the trial is. What is your prediction?? 

The press badge of a GQ reporter at the trial.