A few days ago, when news broke out of John Galliano making anti-semitic comments, harassing a Jewish couple in a bar in Paris and publicly announcing that he loved Hitler, I was scandalized. And disgusted. And naturally satisfied when Dior suspended and then sacked him altogether.
Fast forward to this morning. I'm beginning to read the Sunday Times when my eyes fall on a small, but groundbreaking paragraph. On page 17, under the title 'Paris Fascist Week', it is claimed that Christian Dior himself did dress Nazi officials during their stay in Paris, Coco Chanel took advantage of the anti-Jewish laws in order to takeover her company, and Hugo Boss was an 'enthusiastic' member of the Nazi Party and a fan of the SS.
And the fashion industry thought Galliano was the problem.
PS: Of course, it is not my intention to question the above designers' abilities and influence in the fashion industry. Far from it. Widely admired, they are/were geniuses in what they did. But that's where I draw the line, because as it seems, they had in talent what they lacked in ethics.
Thank you for your nice comments :)
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