John Galliano

>> Just a week after John Galliano hired a new lawyer, his trial date has been set for June 22, it was determined at a hearing in Paris today. Galliano was not present, and his new lawyer Aurelien Hamelle said that he isn't currently in France, declining to give further details on Galliano's whereabouts or current activities.

Galliano does, however, intend on attending the trial in person, Hamelle said: "As a mark of respect to the court and to the victims, he will definitely be in court in June. He knows what he said was not right. And he regrets the remarks he made. But we should remember he was sick and in a bad place. He was so drunk he cannot really remember what he said. And he is still undergoing treatment now."

The trial, which is expected to last a day, will determine if Galliano is guilty of verbally abusing three plaintiffs — Geraldine Bloch, Philippe Virgitti, and Fathia Oumeddour — on two separate occasions with anti-Semitic and racist slurs. If found guilty, Galliano could face up to six months of prison and a fine of 22,500 euros ($31,271). However, Nathalie Micault, Oumeddour's lawyer, predicted that even if Galliano was convicted, the court would be very unlikely to put the designer in prison.

>> After news broke that John Galliano fired his lawyer Stephane Zerbib, due to finding irregularities in his financial affairs, the designer has hired a new head, Aurélien Hamelle from Metzner Associés, to take over his case. Hamelle, who comes from a background in business and financial criminal law, international criminal law, and business litigation, will make his first appearance at the the pre-trial hearings set to take place next week. [WWD, Metzner Associés]

>> After rumors that John Galliano's lawyer, Stephane Zerbib, had quit, a spokesperson for Galliano has released a statement today confirming that Zerbib had been fired: "Mr. Zerbib was dismissed as Galliano's lawyer some weeks ago following the discovery of apparent irregularities in respect of his firm's administration of Galliano's financial affairs over a number of years." The designer's pre-trial hearings are set to begin next week, with a date for his impending trial expected to be announced May 12. [Vogue UK]

>> Whether John Galliano can make a comeback down the line or not is a subject of great contention — but one brand has already reportedly expressed interest in hiring the currently unattached designer. According to a source in Milan, WWD reports, Ferre owners Paris Group — which recently let designers Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi go — mulled the idea of tapping Galliano for Ferre.

Paris Group denied the reports, however, and a deal did not materialize. But speculation is rising that the group may endeavor to buy LVMH's 91 percent stake in the Galliano brand.

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>> John Galliano has been formally let go at the label that bears his name, after the firm's board recently met and decided to eject the designer. It is understood that the in-house design team at John Galliano, which shares members with Dior, will be saddled with producing forthcoming collections; pre-Spring is already said to be underway.

Christian Dior, which owns 91 percent of the Galliano house, has apparently received several unsolicited expressions of interest in the label from its Italian licensing partner Ittierre, as well as a Chinese group and a firm from the Middle East; however, a sale of the company is reportedly not a priority.

Galliano the designer, for his part, was recently spotted at the Los Angeles airport; he is said to have recently completed an "intensive" one-month treatment at an Arizona rehab center and is now in extended "aftercare." A date for his impending trial — which will determine whether he faces months in prison and a fine of 22,500 euros (approximately $31,000) on account of public insult — is expected to be announced on May 12.

>> Carine Roitfeld is enjoying her new status as a free agent. While meeting with an interviewer from Spiegel, for instance, she was told that she looked "remarkably normal" (She showed up in a "no-name" T-shirt from Los Angeles, Current/Elliott corduroy jeans, and satin shoes that she had custom-made in violet.). Roitfeld's reply? "That's part of my newfound freedom. I always wore a tight skirt at Vogue; it was like a uniform." And the former editor already has plenty of new projects in the works — the Fall 2011 Chanel campaign, consulting work for Barneys, her biographical retrospective book with Olivier Zahm that comes out in October — plus, she mentions that she's working on "a book with Karl Lagerfeld," and adds, "Who knows? Perhaps I'll become a muse for designers again."

Needless to say, there's been no second-guessing her decision to leave Vogue Paris: "[It was] the perfect moment. The French edition of Vogue had never been more successful, had never had more readers or advertisers. And it had never made as much money. For 10 years, my American publisher, Jonathan Newhouse, let me do what I wanted, even when he thought it might be crazy. But it couldn't have gone on for much longer."

A few more highlights from the interview, below.

On editing Vogue Paris and the current state of the industry: "For 10 years, it was a hell of a lot of fun. But, toward the end, it unfortunately got less and less fun. You used to be able to be more playful, but now it's all about money, results and big business. The pret-a-porter shows have become terribly serious. The atmosphere isn't as electric as it once was, and they now have about as much charm as a medical conference. But it takes just one good fashion show to get things exciting again . . . Creativity needs space and a willingness to take risks, but businessmen don't like risk. What's more, designers are coming under more and more pressure. Today, a dress can't just please the women in Paris; it also has to please those in Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow and New York."

On the frequency of drug use in the industry: "My only drug is a small glass of vodka in the evening, if that's what you're asking . . . [Drugs are used in fashion] no more and no less than they are in other artistic circles. Yves Saint Laurent was the first person to openly admit to being a drug addict. Since I never touched drugs myself, I find it hard to tell whether people are taking them. But, of course, some people do. The industry has become faster and faster. People are constantly fighting jet lag and working through the night."

On the rumors of her succeeding Anna Wintour at Vogue: "That was never seriously under discussion. I like to provoke. I'm very French. In America, they're not even allowed to show a hint of nipple in photos. Anna Wintour is the most powerful woman in the global fashion industry, the first lady of fashion. She's a politician; I'm a stylist. They are two very different jobs. Incidentally, despite all the rumors, she is actually very nice."

On the John Galliano scandal: "I had no idea how unhappy John Galliano must have been. You have to be very unhappy and lonely to praise Hitler in public while completely drunk. The House of Dior has always addressed a range of topics, for example, by having haute couture shows on homelessness where all the models look like people living on the street. But drunkenly shouting 'I love Hitler' and calling people in a bar a 'dirty Jew-face' is unacceptable. I don't think he really believes what he said; they were simply the actions of a drunk."

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>> Kate Moss reportedly told guests at a Topshop dinner (prescandal) that she was wearing a John Galliano-designed dress to her July 2 festivities, but her fiance Jamie Hince says it's not so, describing the reports as "unfounded entirely." He adds of the Galliano ordeal: "I haven't seen the video, and I don't even know John that well, but I feel like people have got to see reason here. John has a problem with alcohol, and the reality is that when we're in trouble, and that's all of us, we say the most violent, cursed things. You can judge them on the stupid words they said — which I think were stupid, I hope that goes without saying — or you can dig a bit deeper and you can try and find out what the problem is. And I think it's obvious that it's alcohol. People are trying to say those are his politics. 'I love Hitler' — that's not political, that's somebody in trouble." [Vogue UK]