The six weeks before Paris Fashion Week are now marked as the time wherein the fashion world is rocked to its core after last year’s January suicide of Alexander McQueen and this year’s career suicide of John Galliano.
After video of him declaring “I Love Hitler” and “People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be fucking gassed,” was released by The Sun yesterday, Sidney Toledano has fired John Galliano from his post as head designer at Dior. The irony that, he too, would have been subjected to Hitler’s wrath under Paragraph 175 of Germany’s 1871 penal code (banning sodomy), seems to be lost on Mr. Galliano, who is openly gay.
Dior’s spokeswoman, Natalie Portman, spoke out against the designer stating that “I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano’s comments that surfaced today…In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way.” Ms. Portman also protested the designer at the Oscars by wearing a dress by Rodarte, whom was responsible for a number of the costumes in the movie Black Swan for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress. Mr. Toledano, President and CEO of Dior, released a statement saying “I condemn most firmly the statements made by John Galliano which are a total contradiction with the essential values that have always been defended by the House of Christian Dior.”
Rumor has it that Dior has been looking for a reason to fire Galliano after a series of collections that have received middling reviews and comments regarding repetition, but the timing of this incident couldn’t be worse as Paris fashion week ramps up. There’s no word yet on whether the industry will boycott the Dior and Galliano shows, but given that Dior is too important and that they fired Mr. Galliano, it seems safe to believe that the industry will forgive the famed house. They are, however, much less likely to do the same for Galliano’s eponymous label for which there is currently some speculation as to whether or not that particular show will be canceled altogether.
One thing is for certain, fashion has lost its King and there will be a brouhaha in the coming month over who LVMH will decide to replace Galliano. The safe bets are on any acclaimed French or British designer, but wouldn’t it be grand if say, Rei Kawakubo or, more scandalously, an American, was hired?
Sources: Hollywood Reporter and The Sun.
Update: Title by Momof3WildKids
1886: Oskar Kokoschka: When I was in art school, we had a thing wherein we’d go behind someone, push them lightly on the shoulders, not enough to make them fall down, but enough to scare them, and scream Oskar Kokoschka’s name. It was an act of absurdism in the name of the master of German Expressionism and the idol of myself and several of my friends. The painter, poet and playwright was originally told that he was mentally unstable after being injured in World War One, but aren’t all the greats? I know that I’m pretty mentally unstable. Who wants to be stable? Perhaps its my idolatry of Kokoschka that has led to my allowing myself this instability. Anyways, the Nazis deemed him and his work degenerative, so he escaped to Prague, until the Czech began to mobilize for an invasion from Germany and he escaped to the United Kingom. His style was very nervous, but filled with great motion and intrigue and his play is considered the first Expressionist drama. The individualism displayed by himself and Max Beckmann created one of the greatest offshoots of the Modern Art movement, though Kokoschka saw himself as a footnote in the annals of art history towards the end of his life which made him bitter. Here’s an example of his work: The Red Egg, 1941, currently in Prague’s Narodni Gallery:
1987: Ke¢ha: That girl who always looks really dirty and sings about brushing her teeth in the morning with a bottle of Jack Daniels because she’s a complete alcoholic turns 24 today! Ke¢ha is a terrible idol, mainly because while she’s had great success, she’s not particularly talented. I like Ke¢ha when I’m driving and not wanting to listen to WRCJ or WOMC, but that’s about it. There’s no substance. Still, she has more money than we could dream of, but hey, I like her better than Gaga so there’s that.
Ashlee Simpson’s baby naming idol was kidnapped as a kid by the King of England as a pledge for the continued good faith of Gryffydd’s father Llywelyn the Great. Griffid. Gryefehd. Gryffindor. 
1980: Wilhelmina Cooper: An icon amongst models and the idol of every aspiring girl, Wilhelmina Cooper, founder of Wilhelmina Models, and the woman with the most Vogue covers: 28. She appeared on 255 covers during her career, launched Naomi Sims, the first black supermodel and was portrayed by Faye Dunaway in the movie Gia about another model Wilhelmina’s agency launched to stardom, Gia Carangi who later died of AIDS.
1984: Jackie Coogan: A comedic idol! Jackie Coogan was a stah! A child stah! With all the child stah problems like having his parents steal his earnings. Naturally, he sued them, got very little of the money he earned and got a bill named after him that requires 15% of child star earnings to be placed into a trust. He’s best known as Uncle Fester on The Addams Family, but he was also Oliver Twist.
1824: Blondin: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. This French tightrope walker didn’t die from a fall, but he did have a fall that ended with the death of two people. It’s such a shame when the good intentions of entertainment lead to death. In 1861, while performing 50 feet above the ground, the rope he was on broke, causing the scaffolding to fall. Blondin was not injured, but two workers who were on the scaffolding fell to their deaths. An investigation occurred in which no fault was put onto Blondin or his manager. However, the judge said the rope maker had a lot to answer for. The man who ran the venue where the incident occurred vowed never to have a spectacle of that sort ever again, yet, Blondin was back the next year doing a tightrope walk 100 feet above the ground even though there was a bench warrant against him and his manager for not appearing at a trial in regards to the earlier, deadly incident as they were touring in America at that particular time. Blondin enjoyed a successful career until his death some thirty years later.
1891: George Hearst: Georgie Boy had good intentions. He wanted the American Dream™ and he lived the American Dream™. He became a successful miner and investor and became a United States senator: The American Dream™. He more than provided for his family including, and this is where his good intentions took a turn for the worse, his son William Randolph who became a newspaperman and championed yellow journalism and that’s why we have stuff like the NY Post. Ugh. Hate you George, but mainly because we blame you for bad puns in headlines. You yourself are pretty awesome and a good role model for all us prospectors headed towards California, which would be us! Announcement: We’re moving to California to find gold!
1965: Emile Buisson: The French! Always surrendering! Well, this one had terrible intentions and he didn’t so much surrender as he was caught, but, then again, he didn’t kill them all when they closed in. He surrendered himself. Just like the French are wont to do. Anyways, Emily was a French gangster who killed a lot of people, and by a lot of people, we mean a lot of people. Like, more than thirty people. That’s a lot of people! What bad things can happen from good, we mean, bad intentions.
Today on Life, Death and Violence: Men! And the manliest man thing of all? Sports! Yes, little birds, today we’re covering sports history. Throw that baseball into the endzone and make sure you don’t go offsides so you can get that service ace! Touchdown! These are sports things, right? Our sports memory has been hazy ever since that time in the fourth grade when our father made us go to Little League practice and we told him we didn’t want to do it anymore, but we went and got hit in the eye. We had to get stitches and then perform as Young Cain in Children of Eden that very night. Sports! The glory of victory and the suffering of defeat or something like that. Come running with us and Joseph as we explore this mystical world.
1969: Clarence 13X: Colonel Mustard, in Harlem, with the Revolver. Clarence 13x was a member of the Nation of Islam, until, of course, he made the rookie mistake of criticizing the teachings of Dear Leader. He was named 13x because he was the 13th Clarence to join Temple Number 7 where yesterday’s death Malcolm X: Ray-Ban® Clubmaster™ Spokesman was a minister.
1965: Malcolm X: The original spokesman for Ray-Ban® Clubmaster™ was assassinated in New York.
1974: Tim Horton: We’re at a loss for words, dear friends. This wasn’t just a man. This wasn’t just a hockey player. This was the man who created Tim Horton’s Coffee and Donut. We owe such a debt to this man. We wouldn’t have functioned in high school if it weren’t for the combination Wendy’s/Tim Horton’s across the street. We even went as a Canadian robot one year for Halloween. Its name? Tim-Bot 3000. Yeah, we named him after TimBits. We’re going to go get an iced capp right now in his honor and we think you all should too, assuming of course, you’re near a Tim Horton’s. We know that LeZig is because she’s in Toronto, that most Canadian of all Canadian cities. We bet there’s even two that are across the street from each other like there used to be for Starbucks in New York until The Dark Times. You be safe up there Timmy Ho! We’re pourin a little coffee on the ground in your honor. Don’t worry, we’re doin’ it over a sewer so as not to cause a mess, eh. Wouldn’t want to not be polite. Peace, Timmy. Peace. You’re a golden man and we’ll love you forever.
Yoko Loves You. We Love You Back Yoko and We’ve Written You a Haiku
