Galliano secretly met Shoah survivor during rehabilitation
The disgraced British fashion designer John Galliano has secretly met a Holocaust survivor and a London rabbi as part of his rehabilitation following a drunken anti-Semitic rant in 2011.
Galliano, whose outburst in a Paris bar led to him being kicked out of Christian Dior, has held several meetings with Central Synagogue’s Rabbi Barry Marcus and Holocaust survivor Harry Olmer.
The 87-year old said he had “never heard” of Galliano before this and that he seemed “very nice,” having offered to make Olmer a suit.
Last week Galliano addressed an audience at the launch of a Jewish educational project in London, saying: “I am an alcoholic and that is no means an excuse. But I’m now recovering and part of that is coming to terms with what I did.”
Galliano was dropped by friends and colleagues after video emerged of him telling a woman whom he thought was Jewish that he loved Hitler and that her parents should have been gassed.
Celebrity fans such as Jewish actress Natalie Portman, the face of Dior, said they were outraged by his remarks and wanted nothing more to do with him.
However, the designer now seems to be back in the business, after recently joining Belgian fashion house Maison Martin Margiela. Kate Moss turned out to support the 54-year-old designer at his first show, along with several industry heavyweights.
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