John Galliano's first collection for Zara: the apotheosis of 'fast couture'

Madrid – We are about to delve into the intricate world of Haute Couture, exploring its patterns, silhouettes and codes. These elements, like those of any specialised discipline, are often far removed from everyday understanding. This journey is presented through the first, and highly anticipated, collection designed for Zara by John Galliano.

Around two years ago, in September, FashionUnited highlighted a growing trend at Zara. We noted how the main chain of the Inditex group had effectively decreed the birth of what we then called 'fast couture'. This concept is an evolution of 'fast fashion', which aims to democratise fashion and design. It moves towards the codes, sensibilities and processes more typical of Haute Couture. It was clear that this approach had begun to take root within the Spanish fashion multinational. The trend was also emerging to varying degrees among other major mass-market fashion chains. Zara has now reached the pinnacle of this movement with 'Re{form} Zara Vol. 1'. This is the name of the first collection designed for Zara by couturier John Galliano, former creative director of Givenchy, Dior and Margiela. The collection is part of a creative collaborative agreement between the brand and the designer, which will last for at least two years, as announced last March.

Following the previously announced timeline, which was updated a few days ago by the brand's management, October one has been chosen for the launch of this first Zara collection by John Galliano. FashionUnited reported on this earlier this week after a long and eager wait. The collection, as expected for a launch of this significance, will be officially presented with a pop-up 'installation and experience' organised by the brand in Paris. This coincides with the current edition of Paris Fashion Week. Zara, Inditex and Galliano himself have therefore decided to counter-program the event. The pop-up activation can be visited from October one to October six, from 11am to 8pm, at 70 Rue des Archives in Paris. Visits are available by appointment and can be booked on the official Zara website. Visitors will be able to discover all the clothing and accessories from the collection in detail and in person. The collection was designed by John Galliano, drawing from his own vision of 'French revolutionaries' and using techniques learned during his many years at the helm of Haute Couture houses, based on pieces from the Zara archives.

“Re{form} Zara is an act of revolution, reconstruction and renewal: a creative collaboration between the couturier John Galliano and Zara,” the fashion brand's management stated. From its very first instalment, it “opens a dialogue between the creator and the Zara archives.” They elaborate, “Conceived by John Galliano and built from Zara's memory, the genderless proposal starts with archetypal garments and accessories that are re{form}ed using Haute Couture techniques and reproduced in new materials.” Everything is subject to the intimate “dialogue between the couturier John Galliano and the essential garments of the Zara wardrobe” established within this creative collaboration. Starting with this first collection, the designer, “understanding the archive pieces as prototypes,” they note, “spontaneously cuts, deconstructs and recomposes existing expressions to transform them into new ones.” This creates a “reformed” universe. From here, “characters belonging to a fundamental chapter” of Galliano's creative world “instinctively come to life: ‘les incroyables’ and ‘les merveilleuses’.” These are “the defiant dandies and divas of post-revolutionary France,” here “reinterpreted from a contemporary perspective through subversive and illusory compositions.” This is complemented by “new perspectives” and creative impulses from the “bourgeois spirit of gardening attire” and the “cinematic glamour of ‘film noir’.”

Haute couture techniques at the service of Zara

Based on these general principles, which are typical of collections from major fashion houses, this first proposal has been developed. It can be broken down into two aspects. The first is its aesthetic or visual side, where we find the 'merveilleuses' and 'incroyables' drawn directly from Galliano's creative imagination. These figures not only inspired and guided the designer's hand in shaping the collection but also bring it to life in the campaign images. The second aspect is its formal side. This reality of lines and patterns is intrinsically linked to the aesthetic. Galliano has shaped it by drawing on his extensive knowledge of the most characteristic Haute Couture techniques.

As a result of both processes, we find a collection in which the Gibraltarian couturier introduces techniques into the Zara ethos that are typically used in the construction of Haute Couture collections he has created throughout his long and prolific career. One such technique is 'the flix'. The brand explains that this technique takes its name from flip books, which create the illusion of movement when the pages are turned quickly. In fashion, this construction of an 'illusion' translates into layering a series of garments to create the image of a single, more defined piece. This is seen in John Galliano's first collection for Zara with, for example, different transparent dresses that can be layered over one another. Another example is a coat from the Zara archives that has been 'reformed' into a translucent body with faux fur details on the collar, cuffs and hem. This allows the wearer to complete the piece in a myriad of ways, layering it over any other garment or look.

A second notable technique is 'the shi/ft', which reconfigures existing garments by modifying their dimensions, fit or materiality to completely redefine them and place them in other clothing categories. This process is particularly evident in this collection. It has been realised through Zara archive shirts 'transformed' into leather coats; a lace dress transformed into a ruffled neckpiece; a Zara archive jumper turned inside out and presented as a stole; and 'sans-culotte breeches', created by fusing trousers and shorts from the fashion chain's archive.

Concluding the series of main techniques used in this collection, Zara highlights 'deep pockets'. This technique allows tailoring to be endowed with a 'body language' through adjustments to the structure of the shoulders, waists or pockets. It is a technique that particularly defined Galliano's work at Margiela. It is especially visible in this first collection for Zara in a series of archive jackets that have been modified. A series of 'gestures' have been introduced into their details and cuts, conveying the defiant attitude and 'energetic expressions' with which Galliano imagines his revolutionary 'incroyables', based on illustrations from post-revolutionary France.

“Other techniques,” and their materialisations, Zara adds, “include ‘in-cut-yable’, a way of altering outerwear and reshaping it into frock coats; ‘wrapture’, a combination of inverted and fused skirts, slips and linings from the Zara archive to create wrap skirts; ‘pinch-to-zoom’, a method by which coats are enlarged, transformed, boiled and shrunk to the desired shape; ‘split fit’, cardigans reshaped and shrunk to create openings when buttoned; ‘floating bra’, Zara archive slip dresses cut to become empire-line bras with flowing straps at the back; ‘plume zoom’, a fabric treated to look like feathers from a distance; ‘la mouche volant’, an embroidery inspired by 18th-century mouches and adapted into three-dimensional strips of ‘flying flies’ on dresses and caps; and the bias cut, in which the fabric is cut diagonally to add fluidity.”

Draped dresses, vinyl trench coats, Stephen Jones hats and Zara's first 'named' bag (inspired by a bin bag)

Looking beyond the techniques used to construct the pieces, the collection is based on a rich colour palette. It moves from the more traditional colours of the male wardrobe, such as black, grey, brown, burgundy, navy blue and white, to include red accents and colour tones from the worlds of gardening and film noir. These aesthetic counterpoints, beyond the patterns, are realised on the one hand with olive greens, khakis, mints, browns, golds, pale blues, ochres and oranges. On the other hand, they feature orchid pinks, purples, turquoises and acid greens.

Against this colour palette, the different garments of the collection are revealed. These include draped dresses made of chiffon voilant fabrics, with lace prints or vinyl finish details; coats, jackets, frock coats, suits and breeches in traditional menswear wools; net dresses with faux fur details or georgette feather details; poplin shirts; wool, cotton and vinyl trench coats; and leather jackets and pencil skirts. These pieces are completed with the accessories accompanying John Galliano's first collection for Zara. Among them are a variety of shoes from the brand's archive revisited by the couturier; detachable romantic-inspired high necks and silk cravats; opera-inspired gloves in tulle and leather; knee-high socks, ribbed to be worn scrunched over the heels; a collection of hats co-designed by Galliano and milliner Stephen Jones; and the 'Tri-Chic', the name given to what has become Zara's first 'named' bag. It is a controversial design, inspired by a bin bag.

“The ‘Tri-Chic’ is a reversible pouch bag that subverts the language of bin bags to transport it into the glamorous world of handbags,” the brand's management stated. “Its name is a nod to ‘tri sélectif’ —selective waste sorting in French—,” and to a bag design “with straps and a metal chain closure that allow it to be carried in three different ways: in the hand, on the shoulder or as a backpack.” “Endowed with a gestural grammar, it is designed to invite and amplify the poses and attitudes of the wearer,” they add, about this first named bag designed by Galliano for Zara. The large model is available in combinations of black and yellow nylon, black and khaki nylon, black leather and suede, and khaki leather and tweed-effect printed suede. The 'mini' version comes in metallic-finish leather.