Galliano Turns Zara’s Archive Into a Full-Blown Character Study
John Galliano has been handed the keys to Zara’s archive — and naturally, he did not leave it untouched. For Re{form} Zara Vol. 1, the couturier cuts, dismantles and reassembles existing garments before the ideas are reproduced in new materials, turning the exercise into something far closer to character-building than a simple archive reissue.
The result pulls from Galliano’s long-running fascination with Les Incroyables and Les Merveilleuses, the extravagant dandies and divas of post-Revolutionary France. That historical theatricality comes through in Napoleonic coats, sweeping trousers, sheer layers, faux fur, elongated shoes and crumpled hats — all pushed into a distinctly Galliano register.
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John Galliano Reworks the Zara Archive
Re{form} Zara Vol. 1 turns archive pieces into a theatrical new wardrobe, photographed by Steven Meisel.
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The campaign is photographed by Steven Meisel, with styling by Karl Templer, hair by Guido Palau and makeup by Pat McGrath. The cast includes Frauke Nijs, Craig Shimirmana, Anna Bicanova, Thomas Riguelle, Josephen Akuei, Frederic Bittner, Lulu Tenney, Wiley Rhoads and Julia Nobis.
What keeps the project from reading like a neat museum exercise is the attitude. Teased hair, metallic blue lips, exaggerated posture and oversized proportions turn the clothes into personas. Galliano’s instinct has always been to make fashion perform, and here even the quieter tailoring feels like it is waiting for an entrance cue.
The menswear is especially delicious: oversized wool coats, lace jabots, pinstripes, faux-fur collars and hats that look one gust of wind away from becoming stage props. Against Meisel’s clean studio backdrop, all that drama has nowhere to hide — which is exactly the point.
John Galliano’s Re{form} Zara Vol. 1 Campaign by Steven Meisel
Frauke Nijs, Craig Shimirmana, Anna Bicanova, Thomas Riguelle, Josephen Akuei, Frederic Bittner, Lulu Tenney, Wiley Rhoads and Julia Nobis appear across the campaign. Photography: Steven Meisel / Zara.
Source: Zara and The Fashionisto. Photography: Steven Meisel / Zara.
