Dior's New Book Revisits the Whimsical Era of John Galliano

Get transported back to the era of Galliano with Dior's newest coffee table book.

Written by Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Costume Institute at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dior's new book—titled Dior by John Galliano and published by Assouline—documents the creative brilliance of the British couturier during his 15-year tenure at the famed French fashion house.

With photography by Laziz Hamani featured alongside images by Peter Lindbergh, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, and Laolo Rovers, the 448-page tome is the fifth volume in a series of books that pays tribute to the house's various artistic directors.

Featuring over 300 illustrations, the book opens with the iconic, lace-trimmed, navy satin dress made especially for Princess Diana's 1996 Met Gala appearance. Readers are whisked away on a visual journey, revisiting some of Galliano's other emblematic looks. The anthology of creations illustrates more than twenty-five haute couture collections that not only reflect Galliano's immersable ingenuity but the exceptional savoir-faire of Dior's ateliers.

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Look 1, dress in red satin embroidered with gold andsilver beads and paillettes with rhinestone jewelry, haute couture Autumn-Winter 2004. Dior Héritage collection, Paris. © Laziz Hamani

Detail of look 9, ensemble consisting of a jacket in red leather and a dress in ecru tulle, organdy and embroidered leather, haute couture Spring-Summer 2006. Dior Héritage collection, Paris. Photos © Laziz Hamani

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Look 12, dress in hand-painted and embroidered silk organza, tulle and lace, haute couture Spring-Summer 2001. Dior Héritage collection, Paris. © Laziz Hamani

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Look 16, dress in blue moiré with black lace overlay embroidered with jet beads and trimmed with mink, haute couture Autumn-Winter 2004. Dior Héritage collection, Paris. © Laziz Hamani

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Dame Collet Monté long suit in black woolcrepe and white organza, haute couture Autumn-Winter 1998, A Voyage on the Diorient Express. Dior Héritage collection, Paris. © Laziz Hamani

Aside from the stunning imagery that illustrates a piece of Dior's history, the book carries all the nostalgia of an era that is fast regaining popularity.

To any fashion enthusiast, it is almost certain that at least one of Galliano’s designs, modeled by the likes of Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, or Shalom Harlow, lives rent-free in your head. In all its exuberant, almost garish eccentricity, his spectacular, intricate collections epitomized the fantasy and escapism of the '90s and early 2000s.

A British designer with no couture experience, his appointment in 1996, to helm one of France's most storied brands, sent shockwaves through the fashion industry. Dior's iconic cinched waisted silhouettes and impeccable tailoring, however, were never lost amidst the beautifully ornate chaos of his irreverent, surreal, tongue and cheek collections, each of which was akin to a sartorial fairytale.

The Gibraltar-born designer saw the runway as a platform for storytelling, his collections often held both historical and cultural anecdotes. From Edwardian themes to Victorian corsetry, his Japanese-influenced Spring/Summer 2007 Haute Couture collection was inspired by Puccini's Madame Butterfly and his Fall/Winter 2009 collection by Russian-Balkan folklore. With all of its storybook nostalgia, the era of Galliano carried with it an undoubted air of romanticism.

As travel and media have brought the world closer together, we are constantly inspired by cultures, stories, colors, and motifs from all over the world. This aspect of his designs is what makes the book relevant to our times. Galliano's avant-garde collections were inspired by his travels, cultures, anthropology, literature, mythology, and history. Extending upon this, the pharaonic silhouettes of Ancient Egypt that adorned his Spring/Summer 2004 Haute Couture collection and pieces inspired by the Maasai people of Africa, both feature in this publication.