The Metropolitan Museum of Art's decision to stage a major exhibition celebrating designer John Galliano has reignited debate over redemption and accountability in fashion, given his 2011 antisemitic outburst in which he expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler and made offensive remarks to café patrons about their heritage. The Hollywood Reporter spoke to author and Sunday Times columnist Hadley Freeman, whose great-uncle was a Jewish couturier who survived the Holocaust and helped launch Christian Dior's career, about whether fashion is right to rehabilitate Galliano while failing to properly honour the industry's Jewish history.

Freeman said she was unsurprised by the exhibition, noting Vogue editor Anna Wintour's long-standing support for Galliano and his role in his own rehabilitation since losing his job at Dior. She argued Galliano, a uniquely talented designer comparable only to the late Alexander McQueen, has expressed genuine remorse and worked quietly since the scandal, and that his case should not be conflated with the broader rise in antisemitism seen since October 7. Drawing on her 2021 memoir House of Glass, Freeman used the interview to press a wider point: that fashion has done far too little to acknowledge the crucial contribution of Jewish designers and couturiers to the industry's history.