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galliano for zara gave me a moral dilemma
John Galliano. Steven Meisel. Pat McGrath. Are we discussing Christian Dior in the 1990s?
No. It’s Zara in 2026. Last week, the first iteration of Re{form} by legendary couturier Galliano was released to the public, and it’s fair to say that the reception has been considerably more positive than when it was first announced that the designer would be working with the fast fashion label earlier this year.
I will be the first to admit, my initial thought when the partnership was announced was ‘sell out’. Personal controversies aside, Galliano is undeniably an era-defining talent. He’s been at Dior, he spent a decade at Margiela. There was a brief stint at Oscar de la Renta. Now he sinks to the depths of a fast fashion retailer?
Like the positioning of the store on the intersection of Oxford Street and New Bond Street (one of the few physical stores to currently carry the collection), the Spanish company sits at the intersection of high street and high end, or so they like to market themselves. This year alone they held a presence at the Met Gala, dressing Bad Bunny, who they also dressed for his Super Bowl halftime show. However, I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: you can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig.
My strong opinions didn’t stop me from scrambling to the store to get up-close-and-personal with the pieces. Prior to the launch, I had my mind firmly made up. Then the campaign was released. It pains me to say, but the stacked roster of industry names swayed me entirely. The images themselves were eccentric and exciting, something that, truthfully, fashion is lacking right now.
As for the collection itself, I left the store on Monday afternoon with something of a personal dilemma. I despise the unethical nature of the fast fashion model, and like many others, I have a difficult time forming a solid opinion on Galliano himself, though I certainly verge more on the side of those who called for his dedicated Met Gala to be cancelled. I wanted to dislike the clothes; I wanted to roll my eyes at a generational talent turning to the dark side of the industry.
Unfortunately for my ego, I did not feel that way; in fact, quite the opposite. The first thing that struck me was the experience; despite being shoved in the back of a Zara store, it oozed luxury. The suited man welcoming you in; the more editorial layout of the store; the lack of pricing on the garments. Okay, okay, they can play high fashion, but that doesn’t mean they are. Yet, whilst inspecting and feeling the pieces, I didn’t feel as though I was looking at a Zara collection; it was a Galliano collection.
It’s comprised of a lot of polyester and similar fabrics (although there are traces of more elevated materials scattered throughout), but that is hardly groundbreaking news for a company such as Zara. However, the quality was admittedly better than anticipated. Frankly though, that’s all a little irrelevant; nobody is paying £699 for a dress from Zara without the Galliano name attached.
That’s just it though; it wasn’t a mediocre designer x high street collaboration; each piece appeared to be meticulously thought through by Galliano; or “Authored by Couturier John Galliano”, as the tagline goes. Yes, it may be largely polyester, but you’re paying for the cut, fit and the design, not the material composite.
If Zara’s key objective for this collection was to elevate their brand, dare I say they (at least somewhat) succeeded? The shoppers I encountered, from where I was standing, did not strike me as the average Zara consumer, and yet a great deal of the collection has now sold out. Even the more affordable pieces had a sense of allure; it’s an opportunity for the average fashion-lover to own something by an industry legend.
Galliano is a complicated man, and fashion is a complicated industry. It’s not easy to find the distinction between what’s right and wrong, and Re{form} is slap bang in the grey area. Whether you love it or loathe it, there is no denying the collection is strong, and for the first time, if just for a moment, made me view the brand the way they market themselves.
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