Dior faced with Galliano: in search of the magic rubber
The scandal about John Galliano broke out just as the Dior exhibition at Le Bon Marché (formerly posted here) was displaying (besides the house great symbols) an artistic parallel between Christian Dior and John Galliano. But the shameful name has just been entirely withdrawn from the exhibit.
Dior is not the first company to be faced with a crisis affecting its history and bases. If books and theories regarding the crisis situation abound, no one holds the key. Each situation is unique and so is each company and each history. For many brands and companies, it is difficult to put up with some periods in their history. Colonialism and World Wars, for example, are unsafe subjects. Very often, they will be surrounded with silence, even if it means totally ignoring the promotion of the brand’s historical and cultural patrimony.
At the very moment when Dior is aiming at synthesizing, highlighting and staging the legacy of its two great creators, the crisis breaks out and challenges it all. For us, mere observers, the episode is quite interesting. We will witness the House choices. And the first one seems to be denial: erasing all the traces of this cursed name in the tribute exhibition.
And yet, no, dear Dior House, you cannot erase a man’s name from you history book, just like that, with a magic rubber.
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