Will this begin a long game of, “he/she didn’t want the job either?” The venerable, original, talented Azzedine Alaia, he of those sick lazer cut belts, couture creations, Cher Horowitz dress and 70 years on earth (and almost as many in design), has reportedly turned down John Galliano’s prior post at Christian Dior.
According to the Financial Times, the man simply wasn’t interested. There could be many reasons for this, and many of them would not be exclusive to Alaia himself. Below find three possible explanations for future occurrences of “he/she didn’t want the job either.”
1. Out of respect for Galliano. Alaia reportedly said, “The story of what happened with John was a sad story…and he didnt want to be part of the next chapter.” Many others might not admit outright that they don’t want to take over for the talented albeit mentally unstable, occasionally offensive, anti-Semitic slurring Galliano because he’s still considered a genius in some circles and who wants to follow that?
2. There is a dirth of trained couturiers who have the talent, knowledge and desire to take on the role. Alaia doesn’t fit this reason, but there are many who do. You can’t go claiming the death of couture for almost a decade and still expect people to spend years of their lives studying it.
3. Galliano possibly went mad due to the crushing schedule of designing his own namesake line as well as the multiple seasons, including couture, necessary for the House of Dior. It might be argued that many designers have to deal with this kind of employment scenario (hi Karl!), but perhaps there is something about Dior that’s even more intense. Additionally, there is a good chance that someone else like Alaia, who has their own eponymous collection that they wouldn’t be interested in abandoning, would be another candidate. It just seems like a set up for a heart condition, drug abuse problem and or/divorce.
