John Galliano Being Fired From Dior - Opportunity in Disguise

With all of the news lately about celebrities getting into sticky situations due to offensive comments, it should come as no surprise that John Galliano, famous Christian Dior designer, has found himself in a similar spot.

photo credit: vivavictoriavintage.blogspot.com

According to The Wall Street Journal, Christian Dior suspended Galliano on Friday with the intent of firing him after he made some "anti-Semitic" remarks in a bar in Paris. Galliano admitted his love for Hitler and even went as far as saying to fellow bar goers, "People like you should be dead."

In France, anti-Semitic remarks are deemed illegal and are punishable by six months in prison. It will take a while for Galliano to be "officially" released from Dior due to the fact that in France the procedures for firing someone are a lengthy process. See the full article from The Wall Street Journal here.

Natalie Portman, who has represented perfume by Christian Dior, has made it public that she will not be associated with Galliano in any way. This is not only bad press for Galliano and his own personal brand, but for Dior as a whole. The release of Galliano's fall-winter collection is coming up very soon at the Paris Fashion Week and due to the time crunch, Dior has stated they will continue to use the almost completed Galliano products. This is a very risky move for Dior as Galliano is getting so much negative publicity at the moment.

Should Dior continue with the collection? What will the public response be at the release? Personally, I think that although this is extremely bad press for Dior, it will ultimately prove beneficial in the long run. Although it is negative attention right now, the fact of the matter is that Dior is getting publicity. The word of mouth publicity of any idea or brand is extremely valuable. Like stated before, Galliano is the not the first big name celebrity to be caught with his foot in his mouth. Soon enough, another celebrity will come along, make a mistake, and say something foolish. Especially with today's media, it seems as though everything ends up on the internet. When this does happen, the public will be less likely to remember this particular incident and simply remember Dior in general.

I look at this as a great business opportunity. Dior can bring in a new, young artist to create a collection and give a fresh look to the brand. They could start a whole new marketing campaign and rally around the new designer. This would inevitably create new publicity for the brand and ultimately make people forget about the negativity that is happening right now. Dior has statistically made done worse than that of Louis Vuitton in both sales and operating margin. Also, it is stated in The Wall Street Journal that since 2002 Galliano, even with media buzz of his runway fashion ideas, did not really create much of a financial profit for the company. This leads back to my point in that a new designer, with a new take on the brand, would prove beneficial to reaching a new audience and creating a profit.

What are your thoughts? Should Galliano's collection be released? Is there a good business opportunity hidden beneath the scandal?