John Galliano Is Still Making Amends

John Galliano. Photo: Getty Images

It’s been a long road back into the fashion fold for John Galliano, who was ousted from Dior after an anti-semitic outburst in 2011, but who now seems to have found his footing at the helm of Maison Martin Margiela.

With his place in the design world once again assured, this spring Galliano appears to be hard at work rehab-ing his public image with events like a recent sit down with British Vogue’s editor in chief Alexandra Shulman (his first public appearance of this kind since the scandal). But while fans and foes alike may have hoped for some direct statement on his past, Shulman completely side-stepped any allusions to Galliano’s foregone troubles. Galliano and Shulman instead confined their conversation to his ambitions for Margiela and his healthy, post-rehab lifestyle. His fittings now begin at 9 a.m. “rather than at a quarter to midnight,” he said.

But in spite of the softball interview, the designer himself seems keen to make peace with the Jewish community. According to the Jerusalem Post, Galliano has enlisted the help of British Rabbi Barry Marcus to help him with his outreach and has thus signed on to address a group of Orthodox congregants in London on the history of biblical fashion. Says Marcus, who helped to facilitate the event, “As a human being, as a Jew, as a rabbi, as a humanist, I’m almost duty-bound to open the door to somebody who wants to make amends.”

It remains to be seen whether Galliano’s most outspoken critics, like actress Natalie Portman, will be swayed by his efforts.

Related: How—& Why—John Galliano’s Comeback Strategy Is Working 

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