“I had the blessing of Martin Margiela – and psychologically I felt I was doing the right thing for the House.”

This year marks a decade of John Galliano helming the house of Maison Margiela. 

It’s also a year where Galliano has enjoyed unprecedented highs, beginning with an Artisanal show in Paris in January that marked a return to his signature theatricality and prompted a tidal wave of think pieces and social media adulation.  

The impact of the show has reverberated throughout the year, followed by the release of Kevin MacDonald’s documentary “High & Low: John Galliano” and then high profile red carpet collaborations with Kim Kardashian and Zendaya for the Met Gala.  

Galliano seems more at ease than he’s ever been creatively and personally, and it is at this point where he sat down with Anders Christian Madsen, journalist and collaborator of Maison Margiela, for the third episode of System Stories’ ‘In Conversation’ series, to speak at length about his creative process.  

Together, they delve into the aftermath of that groundbreaking show, why Galliano feels free to lean into his personal and design legacy and how at Margiela, Galliano has managed to make time to foster the act of creation.    

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This conversation features Pharrell Williams, the current Creative Director of Menswear at Louis Vuitton, and Marc Jacobs, the former artistic director of Louis Vuitton.

Marc Jacobs started at Louis Vuitton in 1997, when the house had never staged a fashion show or produced a runway collection. Marc collaborated often and, in 2004, worked with Pharrell on Louis Vuitton’s first sunglasses, the Millionaires. Jacobs left the house in 2013, and had not set foot in its Paris headquarters since.

Pharrell was announced as menswear creative director in 2023, showing his first collection by shutting down the Pont Neuf for an extravagant star-studded affair.

While Marc was visiting Paris for the event of Juergen Teller’s ‘i need to live’ solo exhibition at the Grand Palais Éphémère, the pair met at Louis Vuitton HQ to talk.

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This episode features Francesco Risso, artistic director of Marni, and musician Devonté Hynes, widely known as Blood Orange, who has been creating original soundtracks for Marni's fashion shows since 2021.

Francesco Risso, who arrived at Marni in 2016, previously worked for Anna Molinari at Blumarine before joining Prada in 2008. His approach evokes a sense of playfulness, putting culture, community, and creativity at the brand's heart centre.

Dev Hynes is a cultural fixture, scoring movie soundtracks for the likes of Luca Guadagnino and Paul Schrader, previously collaborating with Virgil Abloh for his shows at Louis Vuitton, and starring in Loewe's Autumn-Winter 2023 campaign shot by Juergen Teller.

After collaborating on shows in New York and Tokyo, and Milan, we speak to Francesco and Dev, days ahead of the Marni Spring Summer 2024 show taking place at Karl Lagerfeld’s house in Rue de l’Université, in Paris.

System Magazine YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCla5G_aZ6T9t_nOguH9miKQ

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‘In conversation’ is a new podcast series from System stories, in which we pair together key figures, creatives and collaborators from within the global fashion industry and its adjacent cultural fields to go face à face in long-format exchanges.

In each episode, you’ll hear two of fashion’s most relevant, most powerful and most opinionated individuals, in conversation.

Original music by Frédéric Sanchez

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