Fashion’s bad boy returns

THE LAUNCH of Oscar de la Renta’s new bridal fragrance in New York last month was a modest affair, unremarkable even, in that the scent was predictably lovely, the bottle predictably elegant and the Perrier-Jouët champagne predictably moreish, at least for the handful who indulged.

Yet a glimpse of one small, black-clad figure in the background elevated a workaday product launch into something far more intriguing. In the fashion equivalent of Where’s Wally?, some of the more eagle-eyed attendees spied none other than John Galliano, pinning happily at a fabric in a corner of De la Renta’s spacious 25th-floor workshop. He was “smiling and confident, like he owned the place”, reported USA Today.

If rumours are to be believed, Galliano owning the place may one day not be too far off the mark. As one of the most successful designers in the world, De la Renta belongs to that small but elite club of fashion designers who are household names; one who dressed a shoal of household names. Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton may have cemented his reputation, but a new wave of punchy young female celebrities are equally in thrall to his elegant gowns: they include Kristen Stewart, Mila Kunis, Zooey Deschanel, Allison Williams and Rihanna.