SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Savannah College of Art and Design will honor fashion legend John Galliano at the college’s annual fashion show Saturday, May 17, at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Trustees Theater, 216 E. Broughton St. Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley and SCAD President Paula S. Wallace will present Galliano with the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award at the 8 p.m. show.
In May 2000, the college honored Talley with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was renamed to include Talley’s name and has been presented successively to fashion legends Oscar de la Renta, Karl Lagerfeld, Miuccia Prada, Tom Ford, Vera Wang and Marc Jacobs. In 2004, Zac Posen was honored with the André Leon Talley New Look Award. Talley is a member of the SCAD Board of Trustees.
Born on the British peninsula of Gibraltar, Galliano grew up in London and studied fashion at St. Martins School of Art (now Central St. Martins College of Art and Design). His infamous 1984 senior collection, “Les Incroyables,†was inspired by the French Revolution, and thus ignited his own revolution in the fashion world. His shows remain one of the most coveted invitations in town, his collections taking inspiration from China, Mexico, Russia, Japan and India as well as his homelands.
In 1995 Galliano was named creative director of Givenchy, where he was responsible for women’s haute couture and prêt à porter collections. He was hailed as the savior of couture, and in 1996 he was named creative director of France’s most prestigious couture house, Christian Dior. The first taste of his very own “new look†was unveiled in December 1996, when Diana, Princess of Wales, wore his very first Dior design to Dior’s 50th anniversary gala opening at the Metropolitan Museum on Art.
In 1999 Galliano was made creative director for all women’s lines at Dior, including bags, leather goods, shoes, lingerie and advertising campaigns, which he produced with photographer Nick Knight. In 2001 he was appointed creative director for Dior Parfums campaigns and direction, and he celebrated his 10th anniversary at the house of Dior in 2007.
TIME magazine named Galliano “the most influential fashion designer of his generation,†and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour said of him, “There are few creative people in the fashion world who, through their spirit, their creative joy and their personalities, really give fashion what it needs – some inventive madness.â€
The awards bestowed upon Galliano are indicative of his incredible creativity, talent and vision. He won the prestigious British Designer of the Year award in 1988, 1994, 1995 and 1997, the Dress of the Year award at the Bath Museum of Costume in 1988, and Spain’s Telva Magazine Designer of the Year award in 1995. He was awarded the Oribe Award for Design by the prefecture of Gifu, Japan, in 1997 and was one of the first men to be honored by The Fashion Group International. He was named Best Women’s Wear Designer at the VH1 Fashion and Music Awards in 1998, and was also awarded the Council of Fashion Designers of America 1998 International Award, the most prestigious fashion award in America. In 2001 Galliano was named Commander by Order of the British Empire (CBE), in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
More than 100 undergraduate and graduate students are currently vying for one of almost 50 prestigious slots in the SCAD fashion show, which has become one of the top student fashion shows in the country. Selected by a jury process, the students’ work is critiqued every step of the way from sketches to garments by some of the top professionals in the fashion industry.
The 2008 SCAD fashion show matinee at 4 p.m. is $20 per person, $10 per person with a SCAD ID and for the 8 p.m. show is $50 per person and $25 per person with a SCAD ID. Tickets are limited to four per person for both shows. Tickets can be purchased beginning May 1 at the SCAD box office, 216 E. Broughton St., online at www.scadboxoffice.com or charged by phone at 912.525.5050.