Lifestyle
John Galliano exits Maison Margiela, where he got a 'second chance' after Dior ouster
Maison Margiela’s creative director John Galliano, the iconoclastic couturier who previously headed artistry at Givenchy and Christian Dior, is leaving his post at the luxury French fashion house after a decade-long run.
The British designer, 64, announced his goodbye Wednesday via Instagram after employees at Maison Margiela were informed about his exit ahead of the company Christmas party, Women’s Wear Daily reported. Galliano’s departure also marks the end of his groundbreaking partnership with Diesel founder turned Italian fashion mogul Renzo Rosso, whose OTB Group is the parent company to Maison Margiela, Marni and Viktor & Rolf.
In a lengthy statement, the celebrated and controversial artist said he was grateful for “this life-saving creative moment and the safe space we have built together” and the “second chance” that Rosso and Martin Margiela gave him.
“My heart overflows with joyous gratitude, and my soul smiles,” he wrote. “For I am 14 years old today — 14 years sober. Living a life better than I ever dreamt possible.”
Although Galliano did not say what he plans to do next, the flamboyant and theatrical designer said he would share details in due time. Maison Margiela has not yet disclosed who will succeed Galliano, but the company has seen exponential growth in its luxury business since his appointment in 2014. Sales increased by 24% in 2022 and 23% in 2023, Vogue reported.
“The rumors… Everyone wants to know, and everyone wants to dream,” he wrote. “When the time is right, all will be revealed. For now. I take this time to express my immense gratitude. I continue to atone, and I will never stop dreaming. I, too, need to dream.”
Galliano dressed countless celebrities during his tenure, including Kim Kardashian, Zendaya and Gwendoline Christie at the 2024 Met Gala and Miley Cyrus at the Grammy Awards this year, as well as Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lawrence, Rihanna and Katy Perry for other red-carpet events.
In his statement, the only post on his Instagram grid, Galliano reflected on his time at Maison Margiela — formerly Maison Martin Margiela — and how he was given the keys to the kingdom by its ultra-private namesake, who told him “take what you will from the DNA of the House, protect yourself, and make it your own.”
Galliano’s appointment came after a pivotal time in his life and career: The designer, who has been candid about his addictions to drugs and alcohol, had been fired by by Dior and ousted by his own design label after delivering antisemitic and racist rants in Paris in 2010 and 2011, which ultimately played out in French court.
Sometimes referring to his past self in the third person in his two-page statement, Galliano that he “mourned the loss of JG and my previous identity” and that he’s much happier now and strives daily “to be a better version of this person.” He also expressed his gratitude to Rosso for inviting him to assume the position of artistic director at Margiela after that tumultuous period in his life. (Galliano’s body of work was the subject of the 2024 documentary “High & Low.”)
“The greatest, most precious gift he gave me was the opportunity to once again find my creative voice when I had become voiceless. My wings mended, and I better understood the all-consuming act of creativity.” In front of Rosso and Margiela, Galliano said he had an epiphany and was “ready.”
“I would surround myself with like-minded people, strong people who shared the same work ethic. I informed Renzo I would take him up on his kind offer, but my recovery would have to come first — and it did,” he wrote. “Ten years later, I am forever grateful for this safe space to create and build a new family that supports me with courage and dignity. Although little had changed in the industry then, my perspective on it has radically shifted. I begin to see changes all around me: compassion and empathy.”
“I’ll readily admit I’m demanding and difficult to run with when challenged, but look at what we have built,” he wrote. “This is when the family — the fashion industry — is at its best when we collectively support each other, not judge. When we accept, forgive, and help one another see the error of our ways. Being brave enough to unlearn, to re-educate ourselves from the past — for it is societally learnt — to share, empathize, and practice compassion.”
Galliano eased back into the spotlight and debuted his first runway collection for Maison Margiela in January 2015, sending a small couture collection down a London runway in front of a curated audience of 100 people at the end of London’s Men’s Fashion Week. This past January, he was widely applauded for his viral spring 2024 Maison Margiela Artisanal show — the one that showcased Pat McGrath’s viral, glass-like makeup — which WWD described as putting “full-throttle creativity back on the industry agenda” and propelling Galliano “to the very top of the fashion heap.”
“Margiela’s business steadily climbed in recent years as Galliano infused its collections with campy, theatrical innovations, deconstructed designs and a gender-fluid sensibility as well as pushing the craftsmanship and creative impact of its ‘Artisanal’ line to new heights,” Business of Fashion reported. “Sales rose 22% in 2023 even as the wider luxury market slowed.”
The reformed designer on Wednesday touted “slow and ethical fashion” and its influence, as well as the design house’s sociopolitical messaging that he said centers trans and queer rights, gender equality in the workplace, anti-racism and mental health advocacy.
“I celebrate the genderless collections we now produce, reinforced by how they are brought and supported. My co-ed collections, whether Artisinal or [Ready-to-Wear], represent diversity and individuality,” he wrote in his statement. “I celebrate the magical relationships with my muses, who challenge me to create safe spaces where we can dream and make believe. You inspire everything I do. You are my life. All my muses have battled society’s norms and restrictions on gender and body identity. I rejoice in self-expression and freedom. “
He also indicated a desire to “celebrate the joy” he found in the ways he communicated creatively, embracing cultures that celebrate fashion through theater, cinema and digital media.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Rosso lauded Galliano for making Maison Margiela “the most cutting-edge couture house in the world.” He added that the last decade “of incredibly intense work, amazing shows and installations, extraordinary beautiful product, have laid the foundations for the future.”
Students walk on the Stanford University campus on March 14, 2019, in Stanford, Calif.
Ben Margot/AP
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Ben Margot/AP
When Theo Baker arrived at Stanford University a few years ago, he joined the student newspaper, following the path of his journalist parents, Peter Baker, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, and Susan Glasser, a writer for The New Yorker.
Through his reporting as a student journalist, he eventually broke a story about manipulated data in Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s neuroscience research that helped lead to the university president’s resignation.
Theo Baker’s book, How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University was released May 19. In it, Baker describes Stanford as a place where proximity to Silicon Valley gives rise to a parallel system of influence, recruitment and money, with investors looking to identify promising students almost as soon as they arrive on campus.
He told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep there was “a sort of Stanford inside Stanford,” where elite students are drawn into an “alternate reality” of excess and access to cut corners.
In the interview, he discusses how Stanford is not just a university but also a pipeline where status and power can matter as much as ideas.
We reached out to Stanford University for comment and have not heard back.
Listen to the interview by clicking play on the blue box above.
The scoreboard shows the results of the women’s singles final match between Iga Swiatek of Poland and Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Fifteen points in tennis? Nice. Thirty, 40 — even better. Advantage — that sounds good. “Love” — that also must be great, right? Well, not quite.
As the French Open rolls on and Serena Williams has announced her return to the sport, maybe you’ve been paying a little more attention to tennis. The sport’s scoring system is notably distinct, and can sometimes be hard to grasp for newcomers. But even tennis aficionados might not know why, or how, “love” became the unmistakable callout for zero points. For this installment of NPR’s Word of the Week, we’re exploring how a word that signifies trailing behind got such a sweet name.
“Love” comes from the heart — or an egg?
It’s hard to pinpoint when the first tennis ball went over the net. Tennis is a derivative of lots of other sports, such as “jeu de paume,” a handball game played in France, said JT Buzanga, the collections manager at the International Tennis Hall of Fame museum.
But tennis became a patented, official sport in 1874, said Steve Flink, a journalist whose tennis coverage got him inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It has retained its unique, mysterious scoring system ever since.
“By and large, the original system has held up almost entirely,” Flink said.
The use of “love” goes back to the late 18th century, said Jesse Sheidlower, a lexicographer. But it was used earlier than that in card games such as whist and bridge. Before the term made its way to tennis, the sport favored plain old “nothing,” or “nil,” he said.
Why love in the first place, though? Historians don’t really know for sure, but there are a few theories.
The French could have something to do with it. Some historians believe “love” derives from “l’oeuf,” which means “the egg” in French. Because eggs are shaped like zeros, terms such as “goose egg” and “duck’s egg” have been used in other contexts to mean zero, Sheidlower said.
It’s also possible English speakers mispronounced l’oeuf as “love.” But Sheidlower isn’t convinced that’s the answer.
“It’s the French equivalent of an English expression. But since that expression doesn’t appear in French, the French word wouldn’t have been used,” he said.
To be sure, France has had a lot of influence on tennis culture, Buzanga said. For example, “deuce” or a game tied at 40 points, comes from the French word for “two”: “deux.” But he prefers another prominent theory: that “love” comes from the idiom “for the love of the game.” Even if a player hasn’t scored, it doesn’t matter, because their heart is in it. It’s the theory Sheidlower said is the most plausible, because the idiom was used by the English before tennis was popularized.
Another variation of the “love of the game” theory is that the word could have come from the Dutch “lof,” or “honor” — or the Latin “amare,” meaning “to love,” Flink said.
But if tennis’ “love” doesn’t come from a French word, the theory at least has a French sensibility.
“I think the ‘for the love of the game’ is kind of romantic,” Buzanga said.
“Love” probably isn’t going anywhere
Tennis used to be a sport of leisure. The style of play has changed a lot over the years; players are more athletic and competitive, for instance, Flink said. But the rules of the sport are more steadfast, he said.
“There’s this incredible, enduring respect for tradition in tennis,” he said. “Changes are not made easily.”
There has been one major change in modern history: the tie-break. Matches can go on and on because players have to score two consecutive points to break a deuce, or by two games to break a tied set. But the onset of television meant matches would have to get shorter if the sport wanted to capture a larger audience, Flink said.
Change even came for “love.” An alternative sprouted up in the 1970s, and is still used today: “bagel,” named for its zero shape, Sheidlower said. Novices may say “zero,” and insiders will understand what they mean, but they “will needle them about it,” Flink said.
But “love” still prevails.
“People kind of like it,” Flink said. “It’s different. Why say zero when you can say love?”
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