John Galliano has officially returned to fashion, and he’s doing it by tearing Zara apart.
The designer has unveiled "Re{form} Zara by John Galliano: Vol. 1," the opening chapter of a two-year partnership with the Spanish retailer that sees him dive into its archive. Instead of designing a capsule from scratch, Galliano began with existing Zara garments, treating them as raw material. Pieces were cut apart, resized, layered, spliced and reconstructed before being reproduced in new fabrics and forms.
This approach brings the theatricality and technical experimentation associated with Galliano into a very different arena: the high street. Trousers are dismantled and rebuilt into cropped, voluminous shapes, an oversized shirt is manipulated to resemble a leather coat, and a lace shift dress is reduced and reconstructed into an elaborate ruffled collar.
Elsewhere, exaggerated pockets alter the shape and movement of tailoring, while sheer layers allow multiple garments to visually collapse into one another. Galliano has also returned to some of the historical references that have followed him throughout his career. "Re{form}" looks towards Les Incroyables and Les Merveilleuses, the flamboyant figures of post-Revolutionary France.
Les Incroyables inspired his celebrated 1984 Central Saint Martins graduate collection, helping launch the designer onto fashion's radar. Those references emerge through frock coats, dramatic outerwear, breeches, bias-cut dresses, opera-length gloves and ceremonial headwear created with longtime collaborator Stephen Jones.
Chiffon, georgette, tulle, net and charmeuse push the collection further into Galliano territory, while deconstructed layers deliberately expose elements usually hidden beneath a finished garment. The collection also arrives with the scale to match its ambition, moving across womenswear, menswear, tailoring, dresses, knitwear, lingerie, footwear, bags and accessories.
A Steven Meisel-shot campaign accompanies the project, while Galliano and Zara have taken over a hôtel particulier in Paris with an appointment-only installation exploring the ideas and processes behind the clothes.
Re{form} Vol. 1 marks Galliano's first major fashion project since leaving Maison Margiela in December 2024, ending a decade-long tenure at the house. More chapters of the Zara partnership are expected across its initial two-year run.
"Re{form} Zara by John Galliano: Vol. 1" is available now through Zara, with selected physical retail locations also carrying the collection.
