I don't think the terms "fashion", "artist", "role model" and "good morals and right conduct" should be packaged together. Just doesn't make any sense; it's wishful thinking. I think it's great if you have people to "look up to" in fashion, but I don't necessarily agree that it is horrible if you don't.
I guess I just have developed this knack for compartmentalizing certain things. I understand the fact that clothes drape better on thin girls (which is understandable logic --- you after all showcase the clothes and not the girls in a fashion show). I also understand that this image moves women to developing eating disorders. I suppose what makes the difference for me (the reason why I'm not so psychotic about the whole issue) is that I know that I don't have to choose only one way of thinking. I have learned to contextualize. To me, admiring how something or someone looks does not mean I want to look exactly like that or that I would go through any length (physically, financially or otherwise) to own that piece of clothing. I don't take the images I see too personally. I do not depend on artists for reality, especially for my reality. In my opinion, one of the purposes of art is to manipulate, exaggerate, and sometimes over analyze/represent reality. It's an escape, an interpretation of the artist. It has only recently started to astound me how much of society has become morally dependent on artists. Shouldn't we instead be going through our family, friends, teachers, bosses, political leaders for someone to look up to?
I am not trying to impose the way I see things on other people. I guess I just feel lucky that I see things in a way that does not stress the heck out of me.
I am in absolutely no way condoning what Galiano did. I am also not questioning the standards of Dior. But, COME ON, he is such a brilliant artist and his losing his position is in a way, a death and and end of an era. The moralistic side of me of course wants him to rightly pay for his actions but Galiano did not sign up to be "Mr. Role Model". He is first and foremost a fashion designer and his collections have been divine and awe-inspiring.
Before seeing some of his collections, I never thought articles of clothing could strike an emotional chord. His are some of the collections that made me realize that fashion is a form of art in a whole other level --- you do get to literally live and walk in it. It, unlike music and dance, is less fleeting and more tangible. Fashion fans are lucky bastards.
I hope this is not the end of Galiano, although a lot of fashion people say it is.
Photo Olivier Zahm