A Princess in Mourning: John Galliano Fall 1994

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by brownfashionagal

One of Galliano’s most important collections, He created this extremely broke. While Galliano did do some fashion stuff before it was this collection that really solidified his place. Held in a luxurious rusty Hôtel particulier lent to him by a wealthy client and with help of some wellwishers, he was able to bring this to reality. In just 18 looks Galliano put together a show many cite as one of the most important shows in fashion.

‘Japonisme’ he called it. It was a mix of western and oriental references. Alexander Fury quite articulately described Amanda Harlech and Galliano’s vision ‘the woman was kind of kittenish oriental princess waiting for her lover to arrive but he’d been killed in a racing accident and she was walking around alone in an empty house in the morning. The house was lit from the outside to give the vision of a gloomy morning; dead leaves and rose petals and vintage furniture added to the rather chic-tragic energy.

Kimono like minidresses, sensual bias-cut dresses, Obi belts were the cleat standouts in this collection. In order to be economical Galliano used 2 sides of the same fabric to give the look of depth and richness it didn’t have the budget for. He talks “There were, I think, two touches of pink. Kate and Christy had pink outfits. Those were the only colors in the entire show. We just didn’t have time for anything else.”

Stephen Jones, the London milliner created the very abstract host that brought the collection together in a rather sexed-up way. Model royalty like Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington walked for free. After the show, Galliano didn’t anticipate the number of orders he received, clearly it was a success. “This was it,” he talks to The New Yorker “I could not fuck up or make a mistake. It had to be a very professional business or I was never getting another chance to make a dress.”

While I will never understand or probably comprehend the true impact of this collection. I can appreciate how the Fashion elitists get off on it. Maybe it was the Christopher John Rogers Fall 2020 of their time, there’s no way of knowing. Anyway appreciating Galliano’s work is a paradox; I feel shameful for what I already like so I’m not even going to try with this.