A significant minority of Brits condemn the fashion industry as having a ‘problem of dysfunctional and immoral behaviour’, but the public largely believes that the recent Galliano racism scandal in particular is symptomatic of one designer’s problems rather than indicative of the industry as a whole.
- 45% of Brits feel that ‘dysfunctional and immoral’ behaviour is ‘widespread in the fashion industry’
- While little over a third (34%) said that ‘every industry has a few troubled figures’ and that the problem was not specific within high fashion
- However, when it comes to Galliano’s specific rant, 52% of Brits thought that it was a reflection of ‘one designer with personal problems’ and ‘not of a wider problem of racism within the industry’
- But 16% disagreed and thought that racism specifically was actually ‘widespread’ within fashion
John Galliano, widely lauded by commentators as the ‘genius’ behind the fashion design powerhouse Christian Dior, was last week fired from his position after a video of him making anti-Semitic jibes in a Parisian bar surfaced amid allegations that the comments were not a ‘one-off’ occurrence for the Gibraltar-born designer.
Galliano has since apologised for his comments and is now reportedly in ‘rehab’ to address his issues, but reportedly stands to go to trial for his comments. The remarks themselves have triggered a media debate on the moral state of fashion and whether Galliano’s views and outspokenness are representative of the industry as a whole. Notwithstanding, Dior’s catwalk show went ahead as planned at Paris Fashion Week, and although the Guardian newspaper pointedly asked if it was still acceptable to buy Dior, our poll shows that just 3% intend to boycott the label, compared to 12% who won’t (and 80% who said they don’t buy Dior products anyway).
See the survey details and full results (as part of our latest Sunday Times results)
