We don’t know much about current fashion (we lean toward vintage wear), and the name Galliano brings up for us memories of a tall bottle of yellow, licorice-flavored liqueur that was generally found stashed in the far corners of the many bars we tended back in our salad days.
But it’s reported that a prominent designer named John Galliano evoked a pair of silent-movie greats in his recent biannual menswear show.
As Tim Bank wrote for style.com:
The biannual John Galliano menswear spectacular began this season with a tip of Charlie Chaplin’s bowler hat to his silent masterpiece, Modern Times. Dressed as Chaplin, model Scott Barnhill tumbled out of a huge clock backdrop, and Galliano’s movie madness began to unspool. Why Charlie? The rationale was that the designer wanted to make a statement about new proportions in menswear, and the Little Tramp’s shrunken jacket and baggy pants seemed like a good place to start. Hence, Galliano’s dropped-crotch pants and jackets fitted to the body (exaggeratedly so for the show). A trench in a Lurex military twill might not have been specifically Chaplin-esque, but it captured his flagrant dandyism.
Chaplin was followed on the catwalk by Buster Keaton, porkpie hat, lugubrious expression, three-piece suit and all (kudos to the performances—Galliano is as demanding a director as he is a designer). …
Not sure what Chaplin or Keaton would have to say about this particular tribute, but it’s nice to see these great talents remembered.
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I actually think that looks pretty good! (Though I’m definitely a bit of a sucker when it comes to fashion shows — it may surprise you to hear that I’m thoroughly dazzled by contemporary fashion.) Naturally I’m biased in favor of the Buster look…
The Buster ensemble does look pretty sharp. The Chaplin’s a bit outre, but that’s the nature of runway shows, it seems.