John Galliano leaves Margiela: The Highlights of a Decade

John Galliano’s decade at Maison Margiela changed the way fashion understood the relationship between craftsmanship, performance and storytelling. Appointed creative director in 2014, the British designer brought his theatrical sensibility to one of fashion’s most enigmatic houses, finding a way to work within Martin Margiela’s legacy of deconstruction while making the Maison unmistakably his own.

His tenure ended in December 2025, but Galliano’s Margiela years are far from being a closed chapter. In July 2026, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced John Galliano: Horizons, its Spring 2027 Costume Institute exhibition dedicated to the designer. Opening at The Met on 9 May 2027, the exhibition will examine the full breadth of Galliano’s career, including his work at Maison Margiela and his acclaimed Spring/Summer 2024 collection.

The announcement puts his Margiela years back into focus. Over ten years, Galliano transformed the house’s artisanal collections into some of the most anticipated events on the fashion calendar, combining historic references, couture craftsmanship, experimental materials, beauty and performance. His approach was theatrical, but it was also deeply technical: garments were deconstructed, reconstructed, distressed, layered and transformed through processes that echoed Margiela’s original fascination with the construction of clothing.

From the mirrored faces of his early couture shows to the viral runway appearance of Leon Dame and the cinematic spectacle of his final couture collection, Galliano’s Margiela era produced a series of fashion moments that extended well beyond the clothes themselves. These are the collections, shows and cultural moments that defined his decade at the house.

One of Galliano’s most memorable creations for Margiela was Rihanna’s papal-inspired ensemble for the 2018 Met Gala. The intricately beaded mitre and matching robe showcased his ability to blend cultural references with high fashion, making it one of the evening’s most talked-about looks. The look remains a standout in our edit of the Best Met Gala Looks of All Time.

The Defining Moments of John Galliano's Margiela Era

Spring 2015 Couture

Galliano's first couture collection for Maison Margiela immediately established how he intended to approach the house. Rather than abandoning Martin Margiela's fascination with deconstruction, anonymity and the mechanics of clothing, he pushed those ideas into a more theatrical world. Models appeared with fragmented mirrors covering their faces, while reconstructed garments and exaggerated silhouettes explored the relationship between identity and disguise. It was an unusual first statement: recognisably Galliano in its drama, but grounded in the experimental vocabulary of Maison Margiela.

Spring 2018 Couture

By Spring 2018, Galliano had become increasingly confident in the space between Margiela's deconstructed language and his own appetite for spectacle. The couture collection presented garments that appeared to be caught midway through their construction, with exposed seams, unfinished tailoring, transparent layers and deliberately disrupted proportions. Suits seemed to unravel as they moved down the runway, while tulle, plastic and other unexpected materials were manipulated into elaborate silhouettes. The collection demonstrated how Galliano could take one of Margiela's most familiar principles, exposing the construction of a garment and turn it into something theatrical and distinctly his own.

Spring 2020 Ready-to-Wear

Galliano's Spring 2020 collection pushed Maison Margiela's interest in reconstruction towards questions of waste, reuse and sustainability. Existing garments and discarded materials were transformed through a process of cutting, layering and reconstruction, creating clothes that appeared both highly considered and deliberately unfinished. At a time when sustainability was becoming an increasingly important subject in fashion, Galliano approached the issue through the language he understood best: craftsmanship and transformation. Rather than treating recycled materials as a limitation, he made the process of reworking them part of the visual identity of the collection.

Leon Dame’s Viral Walk for Spring 2020

The Spring 2020 show also produced one of the most recognisable runway moments of Galliano's Margiela era. German model Leon Dame closed the presentation with an exaggerated, almost theatrical walk, stomping down the runway in a sharply tailored look, knee-high boots and a striking hat. His performance quickly spread across social media and became one of fashion's most memorable viral runway moments. It also captured something fundamental about Galliano's approach to Margiela: the show was never simply a presentation of clothes. Casting, movement, styling, makeup and performance were all part of the story.

Spring 2024 Couture

Galliano's final couture collection for Maison Margiela is widely regarded as one of the defining moments of his tenure. Presented beneath Paris's Pont Alexandre III, the show transported its audience into a dark, romantic world populated by characters that appeared to have stepped out of another century. Corsetry, distressed fabrics, exaggerated silhouettes and intricate construction were combined with theatrical makeup and cabaret-inspired performance, culminating in Gwendoline Christie appearing in an extraordinary latex corset.

The collection demonstrated the full extent of Galliano's creative vocabulary at Margiela. Historical references, couture craftsmanship, transformation and performance came together in a show that felt less like a conventional runway presentation than a piece of theatre. It also proved to be a fitting conclusion to a decade in which Galliano had repeatedly pushed the boundaries of what a fashion show could be.

Rihanna’s 2018 Met Gala Look

Galliano's influence at Maison Margiela was not confined to the runway. In 2018, Rihanna arrived at the Met Gala wearing a custom Maison Margiela look created under his creative direction for the exhibition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. The ensemble reimagined ecclesiastical dress through an elaborate beaded papal-inspired coat, matching mitre and intricate embellishment. You can find our list of Best Met Gala Looks of All Time here.

The look became one of the most memorable appearances of that year's Met Gala, demonstrating Galliano's particular ability to translate historical and religious references into highly theatrical red-carpet fashion. Rihanna's appearance also illustrated the broader reach of his Margiela work, taking the house's experimental approach from Paris couture into one of fashion's most photographed cultural events

Spring/Summer 2017 Artisanal

Galliano's Artisanal collections became one of the most important parts of his Margiela legacy. For Spring/Summer 2017, he began with a series of stark, predominantly black looks in which trench coats, dresses and hats were deliberately cut apart to reveal their construction. Linings became visible, panels were removed and familiar garments were transformed into something almost sculptural.

As the collection developed, Galliano introduced softer materials including tulle, chiffon and lace, bringing a romantic quality to the deconstructed silhouettes. One of the collection's most striking pieces featured a woman's face formed from layers of billowing tulle extending from the side of a white coat. It was an example of how Galliano gradually developed a distinctive language for Maison Margiela: one in which the house's tradition of deconstruction could coexist with his own fascination with beauty, fantasy and character.

Zendaya in Custom Couture at the 2024 Met Gala

Galliano's ability to create theatrical red-carpet fashion was evident again at the 2024 Met Gala, when Zendaya wore a custom Maison Margiela look created for the evening. Designed around the event's Garden of Time dress code, the look combined an elaborate sheer construction with floral elements, dramatic styling and intricate detailing, creating a distinctly otherworldly effect.

Coming towards the end of Galliano's time at the house, the appearance reinforced his influence beyond the runway. His Maison Margiela collections had increasingly become associated with transformation and spectacle, and those qualities translated naturally to the Met Gala, where fashion functions as both clothing and performance.

John Galliano's Legacy at Maison Margiela

John Galliano's decade at Maison Margiela was defined by a tension between two very different creative identities. Martin Margiela had built the house around anonymity, deconstruction and an interest in exposing the construction of fashion, while Galliano arrived with a reputation for historical references, elaborate storytelling and theatrical spectacle. Rather than choosing one over the other, Galliano gradually found ways to make those opposing ideas work together.

His greatest contribution was perhaps the transformation of Maison Margiela's Artisanal collections into major fashion events in their own right. Through intricate handwork, unconventional materials, reconstructed garments and elaborate characters, he turned the collection into a form of narrative. The clothes could be studied for their technical construction, but they could also be understood as part of a larger world created through casting, makeup, music and performance.

That legacy will now be examined on an even larger stage. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Spring 2027 Costume Institute exhibition, John Galliano: Horizons, will bring together work from across his career, including his decade at Maison Margiela. The exhibition offers an opportunity to reassess the designer's contribution to contemporary fashion while placing his Margiela years within the wider arc of his career.

For a closer look at what comes next, read our guide to John Galliano and the Met Gala 2027, including everything we know about John Galliano: Horizons and the exhibition's significance for the fashion calendar.