PARIS — Christian Dior says it’s firing designer John Galliano after an online video showed him praising Adolf Hitler — a bombshell certain to rock fashion’s elite world as the latest Paris ready-to-wear shows begin.
The French fashion house showed the famed British designer the door Tuesday following a string of accusations of racist and anti-Semitic rants against patrons of at least one trendy Paris cafe.
Galliano’s ouster raises questions about where Dior will turn for direction next and the mental state of one of the world’s top talents in an intensely creative and high-pressure industry.
Dior said Tuesday that it has launched layoff proceedings for the 50-year-old Galliano just days after he was suspended as its creative director pending an investigation into an alleged anti-Semitic incident in a Paris cafe last week.
On Monday, a video posted online showed Galliano drunkenly telling a cafe patron “I love Hitler” in a different incident.
Christian Dior’s response was severe, chastising “the particularly odious nature of the behavior and words” of Galliano in the video.
Galliano’s lawyer did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
