“You can’t make certain fabrics do what you want it do. It will tell you how it wants to be draped or cut. You have to listen.”

Following on from System Stories’ third episode of ‘In Conversation’ featuring John Galliano, Creative Director of Maison Margiela and Anders Christian Madsen, journalist and collaborator of Margiela,
System invited leading European schools – L'Institut Français de la Mode in Paris, La Cambre Modes in Brussels, Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and of course Galliano’s alma mater Central Saint Martins in London – to select eight MA fashion design students to Maison Margiela’s HQ in Paris for a masterclass in creativity.

The students were invited to ask Galliano questions prompting a discussion about his creative process, how to make a commercial product while staying true to your vision and the importance of building a team that you can trust. They also had the opportunity to show Galliano inspirational objects of their choosing.

The group were also joined by Margiela house muses Valentine Charrasse and Thomas Riguelle, who work closely with Galliano on shaping their movement and character narrative that contributed to the Artisanal show in January.

Together, a dialogue about unfettered creativity unfolded.

00:00 00:59 Introduction
01:00 03:30 John Galliano’s relationship to his muses
03:30 07:45 John Galliano on his process of “emotional cutting” at Maison Margiela Artisanal Collection ‘24, Thomas on John’s storytelling
07:45 9:09 Valentin, his muse, on the story of the cardigan
9:10 12:15 John Galliano on working with Pat boguslawski, corset training, how they perfected the “broken doll walk”
12:15 13:30 First student question, how to stay uninhibited in the design process vs. planning
13:39 15:06 How to keep evolving in the design process
16:36 19:00 How to balance designing as a form of creative expression vs. commercial expectations
19:00 19:54 How to maintain personal creative vision whilst including others in the design process
19:54 21:07 Collaboration experience that stood out to John and challenges on the way
21:08 22:04 How important it is to expose and show the behind the scenes of how he creates a collection at Maison Margiela
22:05 22:29 What makes the heart of a collection?
22:30 24:57 Who is one person that inspired John Galliano that he would like to meet, and what question would he ask them?
24:55 25:59 What artworks inspire John Galliano?
25:59 27:21 Why is it important for him to discover new techniques?
27:22 29:35 What are John Galliano’s greatest hopes and concerns for the future?
29:37 31:03 One piece of advice for graduates entering fashion industry
31:04 38:53 Objects sharing session
38:53 Auntie

Publishing Director Mike Obenson
Moderated by Anders Christian Madsen
Directed by Fiona Hartley
Produced by Deux Deux Deux, Louis Ghodsi
DOPs Lou Respinger, Ambre Fraisse, Jeremie Levy
Sound Marvin Houziaux, Raphaël Revault
Assistant editor Cheuk Ng
Editorial Board Jonathan Wingfield, Elizabeth Von Guttman, Thomas Lenthal
Digital Editorial Director Susie Lau
Digital Graphic Designer Moritz Tibes
Original music composition by Frederic Sanchez