Galliano says leaving Maison Margiela after 10 years

PARIS

British designer John Galliano said on Dec. 11 that he was stepping down as creative director at Maison Margiela after 10 years at the French label which helped rehabilitate his scandal-tainted image.

"Today is the day I say goodbye to Maison Margiela," Galliano wrote in a long Instagram post paying tribute to the Italian fashion mogul and owner of the brand, Renzo Rosso. "The greatest, most precious gift he [Rosso] gave me was the opportunity to once again find my creative voice when I had become voiceless," he added.

No successor was named in the statement by Rosso's OTB Group.

Galliano's departure is the latest move in a game of musical chairs underway in the fashion industry, which has seen a succession of changes at major brands.

There had been rumors that Galliano would move on from Margiela with the end of his contract nearing.

Some industry insiders have tipped him for a move back to Dior, which he helped revive while running his own label during his previous 15 years at the LVMH-owned brand.

There remains a vacancy at Chanel, the world's second-biggest luxury clothing brand, after the departure of its creative director, Virginie Viard, in June.

Bottega Veneta creative director Matthieu Blazy, a 40-year-old Franco-Belgian who previously worked at Maison Margiela, has been heavily linked to that job.

Gailliano was born in Gibraltar but moved to London in the 1960s where he suffered bullying because of his homosexuality. He went on to study and graduate from the illustrious Central Saint Martins fashion school in the British capital.

His career of triumphs and controversies was last year the subject of an Amazon documentary called "High and Low: John Galliano".