Disgraced designer and convicted anti-Semitic ranter John Galliano ignited a new round of outrage yesterday — dressing like a Hasid to attend pal Oscar de la Renta’s Fashion Week show in New York.
The provocative fashion pariah sported the ill-advised outfit — replete with long jacket, hat and curly “peyos,” or sidelocks — as he exited a friend’s Manhattan apartment en route to de la Renta’s West 42nd Street design studio.
The garb stunned New York’s Jewish leaders.
“He’s trying to embarrass people in the Jewish community and make money on clothes [while] dressed like people he has insulted,” fumed Williamsburg community leader Isaac Abraham. It looks like the hairstyle he added was done purposely to insult.”
“Who is he mocking?” added Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind. “The way the socks look, the jacket, the peyos . . . My question is, who’s he laughing at?
“If it was just anyone else, I wouldn’t know what to say. But considering who this guy is, considering his background and what he’s said in the past, let him explain it to all of us: Are you mocking us?”
Galliano was fired from Christian Dior in 2011 after a video went viral showing him professing, “I love Hitler!” in a Paris café. He was convicted in France of making racist public insults and was shunned by the fashion industry.
Last month, de la Renta offered Galliano a chance to make amends, inviting him to work in his Midtown studio.
He’s clearly not working hard enough at making things right, critics said yesterday.
“I would invite Mr. de la Renta and Galliano to come to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, so I can show them some Holocaust survivors and the clothes they [wear],” Abraham said.
Rabbi and fashion designer Tobi Rubinstein Schneier said, “This was not very smart, unless he really wants attention. I’m hoping that this is not in any way a mockery through this attire.”
Asked for comment about Galliano’s get-up, spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said, “Your accusations are not at all correct.”
Regardless of what Galliano might ave been thinking, he’s not likely to find a warm welcome in New York City.
“He just better not step in our streets or come to our synagogue,” sad one furious Williamsburg resident after seeing a picture of Galliano’s garb.
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