What John Galliano's 2003 Fall Collection Can Teach Us of Resilience

Luxury vintage is on the rise. With resellers abound, it’s not uncommon to hear of people snapping up pieces to convey their sustainability savvy, entrenched fashion history know-how and respect for the past, and a sense of uniqueness and individuality by purchasing these rare finds no longer available to the masses. With this growing respect and interest towards fashion’s past – especially with Gen-Z’s recent love of Y2K fashion and aesthetics, today, we look to John Galliano’s 2003 fall collection – particularly the cultural context surrounding its debut and what the show can teach us today of resilience.

From left to right, top to bottom: Look 1/33, Look 3, Look 4, Look 6, Look 7, Look 12, Look 13, Look 18, Look 27, Look 31

The show’s ambience involves a Victoria Secret-esque backdrop of pink and blank vertical lines, punctuated with a sharp, neon pink glow. Military trumpets blare with an upbeat techno DJ, jazzy twist, and we see a model walking forward with make-up reminiscent of a sad mime. Exaggerated, bold, cartoonish black eyebrows, chunky gold glitter eyeshadow, an enlarged campy beauty mark, and expressive lashes cover her face – with a set of bottom lashes looking like tear drops. The look is capped off with a thick red lip. 1940s war-time energy, a period of scarce resources, is reinterpreted through the lens of Y2K abundance. The collection is a glamorization of war with a campy twist.

Her look is military green, structured, and reminiscent of 1940s utilitarian silhouettes as its base. However, proportions are exaggerated with added fabric and detail, communicating abundance. Large, bold shoulders made from bunched fabric and ruching in pale pink as an accent, as well as exaggerated peplum around the hips infuses fun and play into what can be seen as a stale and stagnant wartime era in comparison.

Throughout the show, details of 1940s hats, delicate black net veils covering either the eyes or lips, stockings with a thin vertical black line running up the centre of each leg held up by garter clips, and, at times, small leather gloves grounds the camp with old school elegance. The hairstyles and essence of glamour from the era, like famed British wartime graphic designer Abram Games’ iconic “Blonde Bombshell”, is captured.

The music evolves, and becomes even more upbeat over time. All the positives from this wartime era is remixed in to further enhance John Galliano’s fantasy. The glamour of Old Hollywood, Howard Hughes, traces of Louis Armstrong, Barbershop quartets, and the Chordettes are channelled through the show. The clothing becomes more optimistic as this gradual evolution takes place – evolving from military navies, to browns and beiges, all the way to muted then vibrant pinks and finally fuchsias, iconic of the 2000s. Less military over time, the show evolves by revealing more stylistically civilian wear through lingerie, exploding knitwear styled with lots of leg—perhaps a nod also to Y2K’s micro-mini hemlines, and elaborate, voluminous fishtail gowns.

In today’s cultural mood filled with compassion fatigue, we are searching for levity and escape. The John Galliano show is a direct representation of how economies can trough and peak, but even in the dips, we can still find joy and optimism if we look hard enough.