It seems disgraced fashion designer John Galliano is taking his apology for ranting anti-Semitic slurs a little too far.
The former Dior designer, who just signed on to head fashion house Oscar de la Renta, turned up the day of the ODLR Fashion Show in New York yesterday wearing a long black jacket, a black top hat, and his hair styled to have long side locks– fashioning the look of Hasid.
“Who is he mocking?” Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind told the New York Post. “The way the socks look, the jacket, the peyos . . . My question is, who’s he laughing at?”
Steve Kolb, the CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, came to Galliano’s defense, tweeted, “That is John’s hair and how he dresses and certainly not a mockery of others,” Kolb tweeted Wednesday morning before writing “Lets all take a deep breath, relax and remember it’s just clothes!”
Liz Rosenberg, a spokesperson for Galliano, said any implications that the look was meant to offend is incorrect, saying “your accusations are not at all correct.”
Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, said he didn’t find Galliano’s outfit offensive, adding that the outfit didn’t resemble Hasidic garb.
“This is a deliberate distortion of his outfit. No Chasid wears a scarf or fedora, and Galliano has long hair,” Foxman told JTA. “He’s not trying to make any statement, and after he reached out to the Jewish community to turn over a new leaf, I find it very sad that this is the way they treat him.”
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