Yesterday, John Galliano made his fashion comeback with his debut for Maison Margiela. The 4.30pm show ended a nearly four year absence from the designer following Galliano's dismissal from Dior. It was one of the most anticipated comebacks (to put it mildly) not least because the house broke with their strict code of anonymity but since the designer, with his penchant for theatrics and eccentricity, seemed an unlikely fit. So did Galliano answer his doubters? Because's Caroline Issa, one of the 100 guests in attendance, gave her verdict; "Galliano brings back his world of fantasy, focused on the true meaning of artisanale with hand made elements stitched, sewn, glued and strapped together - a DIY couture collection that signals the return of a true original." But what did the rest of the fashion world have to say?
"This most arcane of fashion houses called for an alchemist as much as a designer, and with Galliano, that's exactly what it got..."He's back, everyone cried at the show's end, palpable excitement overwhelming the sense of relief." -Tim Blanks
"This first show was exactly what you might have expected from the pairing of these opposites. The restrained number of outfits played with deconstruction and the tenets of tailoring, salvage and restitution, luxe and tatters. A breastplate of shells might have adorned a trash-can Boadicea, a dress of carved black leather ribbons fell away into a tattered train." -Alexandra Shulman
"In an era when fashion's high tide is ebbing, as a wave of dull normality rolls forward, the return of John Galliano to the catwalk must be welcomed by anyone who loves the glory of the extraordinary." -Suzy Menkes
"Make no mistake. If dressmaking and tailoring are to survive, they will do so in the hands of designers like John Galliano. And, today, a shot for quality was convincingly fired over the bows of a fashion world wallowing in mediocrity. I am delighted that the trigger was pulled by John Galliano — and that I was there to share a moment that can be summed up in the dictum of Galliano’s new boss, Renzo Rosso: only the brave." -Colin McDowell
"This wasn’t a slam-dunk debut of a new vision — not one of those moments that changes the direction of clothes, redefining a silhouette or a mood and making women sit up in recognition and think, 'That’s how I want to look now.' It wasn’t a moment that wiped the slate clean with its own power. It was, rather, more of a slow stretch; a warm-up. You can understand it. Mr. Galliano has been on the bench awhile." -Vanessa Friedman
"And, while it's impossible to make everyone happy, his first collection demonstrated that he's going to walk neatly down the middle of the road — equal parts Galliano and Margiela, for an unexpected mash-up that worked, mostly." -Veronique Hyland
"What came down the runway in London certainly spoke to the imagination. It was a wild collection of embellished face masks, toy cars as decoration and denim short-shorts. One editor Tweeted 'genius.' So it may be that Galliano gave his jury exactly what it needed: a moment — or at least a sense of possibility.
But with forgiveness comes responsibility — to those who give it and to oneself. With that in mind, perhaps a second chance can blossom into a new career." -Robin Givhan
"Although some of the comments on Twitter in the run up to the show had bordered on parody in their overexcitement, the applause from those who were there was encouraging rather than swooning, which seems about right. Whether the customer is ready remains to be seen, but oddly, this felt like a healing moment." -Lisa Armstrong