John Galliano was, of course, absent from the Christian Dior Fall 2011 fashion show on Friday, held at the Rodin Museum in Paris. The collection turned out to be the designer's last for the iconic French label, after his recent public anti-Semitic rant (slammed by Natalie Portman a day after she won an Oscar). Amid an international uproar, the designer was dismissed by the label this week.
But the Dior show did go on, albeit with non-traditional twists.
Instead of a Fashion Week finale which would normally feature Galliano strutting down the runway, Dior brought out the atelier's huge army of master crafters -- dozens of seamstresses and pattern makers -- who crowded the stage in their white work coats as if to point out that one famous designer hardly builds a beautiful collection by himself.
And before a model even took her first step, a much more direct acknowledgement of Dior's leadership crisis opened the show. According to the New York Times, Dior's CEO Sidney Toledano, addressing the audience in French, read solemnly from a written statement that omitted Galliano's name while condemning his behavior.
"What has happened over the last week has been a terrible and wrenching ordeal to us all. It has been deeply painful to see the Dior name associated with the disgraceful statements attributed to its designer, however brilliant he may be."
Toledano continued, "Such statements are intolerable because of our collective duty to never forget the Holocaust and its victims, and because of the respect for human dignity that is owed to each person and to all peoples. These statements have deeply shocked and saddened all at Dior who give body and soul to their work, and it is particularly painful that they came from someone so admired for his remarkable creative talent."
Galliano -- in seclusion and rumored to be in rehab -- still plans to show his namesake label on Sunday, though he's downgraded it from a "runway event" to a smaller "presentation." Still no word on whether the scandalized designer will make an appearance at that showing.
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