Vogue SG 01.02 2022

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Jil Sander top and
pants; Erdem earrings;
Valentino shoes;
Emily-London hat

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Balmain playsuit and
belt; Dolce&Gabbana
glasses



From left: Fendi dress;
Valentino dress;
Harithand dress

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Valentino dress
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Alberta Ferretti top,
pants and boots;
Dolce&Gabbana
glasses

00

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From left: Chanel
dress, Chloé sandals,
and Emily-London hat;
Max Mara dress

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Eudon Choi jacket, top
and hat

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Balmain dress;
Grenson boots; Emily-
London hat

Hair, Deena Alawaid; make-
up, Manuel Losada Gomez;
models, Anais/MIG, Tosin
and Van/Bareface; stylist’s
assistant, Zeina Issa;
producer, Sarah Lafleur/
Lautan Media.

How to make
an entrance? In
Burberry’s second-
skin shimmer, or
the pure elegance
of Alaïa’s
goddess drapery.

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Burberry asymmetric
dress and turtleneck
body embellished
with paillettes

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Alaïa asymmetric
patent-jersey dress

Photography RASHARN AGYEMANG
Styling KATE PHELAN

NIGAHULTLP

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Balenciaga introduces
a convincing new
take on the
statement silhouette.
Balenciaga crushed-
velvet gown
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Glossy dark hues,
softly glowing golds
or matt nudes—
you’re sure to find
your perfect finish
and shade in MAC
Cosmetics’ iconic
collection of lipsticks.
From left: Nyarach
wears Junya Watanabe
patchwork jersey,
sequin and faux-fur
dress. Sacha wears
Dolce&Gabbana wool
jacket; Saint Laurent
by Anthony Vaccarello
felt hat. Ash wears
Chanel sequinned
tweed jacket, cropped
tweed top, cashmere
skirt, chain braces,
strass earrings
and bracelets

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Graphic accents
offer the perfect
foil for eclectic
ornamentation—
from gumdrop
bracelets to bejewelled
Versace paillettes.

Versace embellished
tulle top; The Arc
London vintage gloves;
The Hirst Collection
vintage golden
bracelet with pink
and orange crystals,
and gold-plated and
black enamel bracelet;
Butler & Wilson pearl
and multi-gemstone
bracelet; Christopher
Kane pink resin and
crystal bracelet; Radà
strass earrings

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Elaborate textures
paired with elegant
minimalism make for
high drama done right.

Alberta Ferretti taffeta
gown; Noel Stewart
feather beret

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With a slash of
subversion, Givenchy
presents razor-
sharp suiting with
added edge.

Givenchy tailored
wool/mohair jacket

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Gucci presents a
modern masterclass in
mix and match.

From left: Nyarach
wears Gucci lace top,
sequinned pencil skirt,
sequinned gloves,
and strass shoes. Ash
wears Gucci cady and
lamé gown, and feather
muffs. Sacha wears
Gucci lace jacket with
feather cuffs, lace top
with strass collar, and
lace trousers. Jimmy
Choo glitter shoes with
faux-pearl strap

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The secret to a
sophisticated up, up,
updo? Nourish and
smooth with a few
drops of Kérastase
Curl Manifesto Huile
Sublime Repair.

Alexander McQueen
tailored cotton/silk
coat with faille ruffles

FACING PAGE
Let the party spirit
fly—in Bottega
Veneta’s fluttering
extravaganza.

Bottega Veneta feather
top and trousers;
NJ Miller Millinery
feather hat

Hair, Shiori Takahashi;
make-up, Lotten Holmqvist;
manicure, Marie Rosa;
movement director, Nicolas
Huchard; set design, Benoist
Buttin; production, Louis2;
digital artwork, Ink Retouch;
models, Nyarach Abouch
Ayuel, Ash Foo, Precious
Lee, Rebecca Longendyke,
Sacha Quenby, Joan Smalls
and Mao Xiaoxing. Special
thanks to Guillaume Diop.

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CULTURE Technology

FALL fromGRACE

Instagram has become the great equaliser. Today, all you need is a compelling narrative and
a boost from an algorithm to start a viral movement. But while we try to balance on the

double-edged sword of virtual democracy and the online mob mentality, Vogue asks: where
does forgiveness sit in today’s social media climate?

Words CHANDREYEE RAY Illustrations BEVERLEY NG

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CULTURE Technology

When Britney Spears’s 13-year conservatorship ended culture exemplifies how quickly it can be enacted. As the star of hit
in November last year, a resounding triumphant cheer Korean drama Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Kim was enjoying success
went up across the globe. This was heard most loudly and time in the limelight until accusations from an anonymous
on social media—under the label of #FreeBritney on ex-girlfriend went viral, alleging that he had threatened her into
nearly every platform from TikTok to Reddit—where millions of having an abortion during their relationship. Amidst a barrage
fans chimed in with celebratory posts about the pop star’s new- of online hate, his social media following plummeted in the
found freedom. It seemed like a win not only for Spears herself, but thousands, he was pulled from a variety show he was set to appear
for every fan who had passionately advocated for the singer online. in and dropped from two upcoming films and several ad deals. His
The case may have ultimately been settled by the Los Angeles career was, for all intents and purposes, over.
Superior Court judge who ended the conservatorship, but the truth
was clear: the real court of influence was that of public opinion. Then, new information surfaced. Dispatch, a South-Korean
tabloid, turned over evidence that the accusations against Kim
#FreeBritney stands as one of the clearest displays of from his ex-girlfriend—whose identity was revealed to be former
the power social media movements hold today. The campaign weather forecaster Choi Young Ah—were not true. Just like that,
gained such momentum that even the biggest celebrities weighed Kim’s luck turned again. Social media was back on his side, his
in. “You never deserved what happened, Thank God 4 today. brand deals were reinstated, and he came out of the tumultuous
You’re a superstar and a super-human being,” wrote Lady Gaga few weeks with over half a million more followers on Instagram.
on Instagram on the day the end of the conservatorship was
announced, while Donatella Versace showed support with: Lest the absurdism of the incident is lost in the fact that
“Freedom is a human right. My heart is smiling for you, Britney. justice was seemingly restored, consider another prominent actor
Congratulations on your regained and deserved emancipation. who was famously stripped of his reputation due to allegations
I love you, your fierce fans love you and the world NEEDS your of physical abuse by ex-wife Amber Heard—allegations that
brilliance. Happy Britneypendence day! #FreeBritney”. have since gone unsubstantiated. While the matter is still being
investigated in court (at the time of writing, Johnny Depp has just
What propelled the movement forward was, in part, an been granted access by a court to Heard’s phone records), Depp’s
incredible swell of support for Spears, but equally, a powerful career and public image have taken irreversible hits since the
surge of hatred for anyone who seemed not to rally behind the incident first entered public consciousness in 2016. If Dispatch had
cause. The list of people to despise was boundless—it spanned not undertaken its own investigation into the allegations against
from fellow pop star Christina Aguilera when she declined to Kim last year, would the South Korean actor’s case have turned
comment on the saga in a backstage interview, to Jamie and out similarly?
Jamie Lynn Spears, members of Britney’s family that the public
holds accountable for the oppressive nature her conservatorship These are complicated incidents to unpack, primarily
took on. When fans collectively rallied against Aguilera online, it because they cross lines with crucial, nuanced movements like
didn’t matter that the singer had spoken out multiple times against #MeToo. But it is the swiftness and single-mindedness with which
Spears’s conservatorship on Twitter. In June, Aguilera had written the public turns that is of real intrigue. Smaller microcosms of the
in a lengthy thread: “These past few days I’ve been thinking about same phenomenon reflect an identical pattern, even if they carry
Britney and everything she is going through. It is unacceptable far less stakes. Tiktok creator Emily Mariko’s page broke through
that any woman, or human, wanting to be in control of their own amongst the countless lifestyle vloggers on social media when
destiny might not be allowed to live life as they wish.” her simple microwave recipe of salmon, reheated rice, kimchi
and seaweed took the platform by storm. As the video gained
The vigour with which Aguilera was still slammed online popularity, Mariko attained TikTok verification and millions of
was startling—and yet not at all surprising. Online movements followers overnight, with fans instantly putting her on a pedestal
have historically been rooted in fire and feelings, and seldom pure, for her covetable lifestyle. Her followers made countless videos
objective fact. This is not to say that the Free Britney movement about her—one fan wrote a song entitled ‘I think it’s funny that
didn’t have immense merit—but it is the collateral damage that is I’m living in the same world as Emily Mariko’, conveying just how
interesting to examine. aspirational Mariko’s lifestyle was—and for at least a few weeks,
she was a public hero.
Cancel culture has, at this point, morphed into a buzzword
that holds little meaning. At its core, the term refers to an act of Then, her followers turned against her. As Mariko’s brand of
ostracism, most visibly seen on social media, and most commonly quiet luxury (she films her videos in an immaculate but minimalist
executed through huge volumes of hate speech intended to drive kitchen) started to grate on her fans’ nerves, she began receiving
someone off the platforms they are occupying. hateful comments on the same videos that had previously been
extolled. “Emily, have you ever cried yourself to sleep?” one of her
South Korean actor Kim Seon Ho’s recent brush with cancel

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The case may have ultimately been settled by the
Los Angeles Superior Court judge who ended the
conservatorship, but the truth was clear: the real court of

influence was that of public opinion.

comments read. Just weeks after she was propelled to TikTok or is it just an opinion? That’s how you become an active
fame, Mariko’s comments were flooded with negativity and hate member of social media instead of a passive consumer.
speech, seemingly for no explicable reason other than she got too
popular, and netizens got annoyed. Given that so many of your clients have huge followings on social
media, how have you navigated this subject with them especially during
The impact of online hate speech is not one that should be the pandemic?
underestimated, especially at the force and volume it is usually
seen today. If you make a mistake on a public platform—and more At the beginning of the pandemic, I had an honest
importantly, if you are called out on one—you can be sure that the conversation with most of my clients. How do we address
barrage of comments and messages you will receive will bury you our present reality? What do we do? Do we stop posting
under their weight. There is no due process in the court of public luxury products online? Ultimately many of my clients
opinion and there seems to hardly be any space for apology and asked their subscribers what they wanted to see. They
forgiveness. In today’s lightning-speed, divisive social media knew that people were losing their jobs, people were dying.
climate, Vogue asks lawyer-turned-celebrity manager Ashley Villa: But interestingly, most of their audiences said, “please
where does forgiveness sit in cancel culture? don’t stop posting, we still want to see these nice things.
We don’t want things to be dark all the time—we’re here
As the founder and CEO of the world’s first female-focused because we want to be lifted up.” So my clients mostly kept
and female-run influencer management company, Villa manages to their regular programming, but it was important that
numerous high-profile online personalities, from Michelle Phan they were aware and for them to show that awareness. I
to Arden Cho. Hence, she is well-acquainted with the nuances represent a rock star roster of clients—they’re good people.
of navigating today’s trigger-happy social media landscape. Her So they’ve always been considerate of their audience, but I
main advice? “If a mistake has been made, own up to it.” think they are hyper aware now.

What is your understanding of cancel culture? What would your advice be if one of your clients were to get cancelled?
To me, cancel culture means that someone makes If one of my clients did make a mistake, I would recommend
a mistake that results in social ostracism. It may be that they first figure out what exactly that mistake was.
warranted sometimes, but I think that cancel culture today Reflect, do some internal thinking, speak to people around
is extremely isolating and a little too harsh. you and then apologise. My main advice to my clients is:
if a mistake has been made, own up to it. Don’t continue
Why do you think cancel culture has become such a quick and powerful making weird excuses and posting things that clearly show
force over the past few years? that you haven’t done the learning. Make a thoughtful,
sincere, public apology.
It has become easy on social media for certain voices to
grow stronger. These are people who might not speak out What does a good public apolog y look like?
in real life, but when you’re behind a computer, it’s easier First and foremost a good apology needs to be clear. State
to just make statements, even statements that might not the facts, say how they actually did happen. Don’t change
have any backing. Only when someone comes for you, do things or cover things up. Explain what you felt at the time,
you then have to substantiate your claims and show your share what you’ve now learned and say sorry.
receipts. So it almost becomes a mob mentality, where
there’s one leader who is extremely vocal, and then this Is there space for forgiveness in cancel culture?
person gains followers. It becomes the responsibility of the It starts with a good apology. When a public figure who has
viewer to do their own research. made a mistake owns up to it and shows genuine growth,
they should be allowed to evolve. Isn’t learning and seeing
As a viewer, how can we better navigate the mechanisms of online the light—metamorphosis—the whole point of online
cancel culture? social discourse? There are some fundamental issues like
racism, sexism and homophobia that I don’t think can be
It’s important to be able to differentiate evidence from compromised on. But if a public figure has made ignorant
opinion. It becomes very easy to change ideas when the comments when they were younger, and if they show that
masses haven’t done their own research. To me, that’s a they are truly sorry and that they’ve done the work to learn
huge issue with social media today. You can’t just take an from their mistakes, I think giving them a chance to grow is
infographic that you saw on the Internet and count it as the gracious thing to do.
truth because you like the source who posted it. I think
how viewers can start is by asking questions when they
see a piece of content or a narrative online. Is that evidence

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LIGHT WORK
The 18th-century
house that Galliano
shares with his
partner, Alexis Roche,
sits in Gerberoy, a
quaint village some
80km northwest of
Paris. “It’s like
you stopped time,”
says Roche.

Let the
SUNSHINE IN

In Northern France, John Galliano has created a home befitting the
idiosyncratic beauty of his tenure at Maison Margiela.

Hamish Bowles pays a call to the treasure-filled hideaway.

Photography FRANÇOIS HALARD

CULTURE Escape

CULTURE Escape

DREAM CATCHER
Galliano—seen with
his Brussels Griffon
terriers Coco and
Gypsy—worked with
the landscape designer
Camille Muller on
the house’s English-
inspired garden,
which is punctuated
by a small lily pond.

Ican’t miss a market or a brocante,” says Maison
Margiela’s creative director, John Galliano. “I’m
very curious; I love hunting, and then the find—the
excitement of the unknown, that one key in a door that
opens the door and another door and another door.”
“You have to pull him back,” admits Alexis
Roche, Galliano’s partner and collaborator. “Otherwise,
he doesn’t stop!”
Galliano, however, cherishes “things that I’ve found in a
flea market, or travelling geographically, or historically—they
come imbued with a story, an energy,” he explains, “and they start
deep emotions. And when those emotions start, I’m able to create.”
Many of those treasures are showcased in Galliano and
Roche’s Paris apartment in the Marais, and in their modest stone
farmhouse in the Auvergne, one of the most unspoilt but remote
parts of la France profonde, where Roche’s grandmother was born.
That house proved to be the perfect refuge at a moment when
Galliano’s professional life was unravelling a decade ago, but as
he conquered his demons through rigorous recovery programmes
and brought his creative genius to reshape Maison Margiela—
which he has helmed since late 2014—the couple began to yearn
for a country retreat that would be more accessible to Paris.
An antique-dealer friend suggested they look at a house
in the almost absurdly picturesque Gerberoy, in Picardy, a village
of cobbled lanes and half-timbered houses framed by roses and
hollyhocks in Northern France.
“It’s like you stopped time,” says Roche. “We felt there was
a soul to the village.” (The proximity to the fabled antique shops
of nearby Rouen was an additional incentive.) Gerberoy is famed
for the gardens created at the turn of the century by the post-
impressionist artist Henri Le Sidaner in the ramparts of a ruined
country house, which served as endless subjects for Le Sidaner’s
shimmering, evocative paintings. He even painted the very house
that Messrs Galliano and Roche had gone to see: an 18th-century
gentleman’s residence that might, as Galliano suggests, have been
a setting for Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. The couple were smitten
by both the house and the town’s beauty and storied history, and
could not resist.
The house, though, was in a parlous state, and Galliano
embarked on an ambitious restoration plan that would preserve
its romantic patina. The roof tiles were each carefully numbered
and removed and, once the structure was stabilised, replaced to
rise and dip as they always had. The reconfiguration of the rooms,
meanwhile, was largely determined by the light and the views.
The main bathroom, for example—crowded with antique perfume

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CULTURE Escape

bottles, etched Venetian mirrors and Baron von Gloeden’s Through the centuries,
photographs of winsome Sicilian youths—serves as an anteroom artisans have flourished
to the bedroom itself. Now, sitting in the antique tub or standing in this region of France.
at the sink, Galliano and Roche have the best vantage points from
which to admire the landscape below the window. chairs drawn up to the circular table and portraits of toucans and
parrots (and earnest early-19th-century children) on the cool blue
While staying at Claridge’s in London, Galliano always walls, has taffeta curtains in an antique pale yellow and blue stripe
took time to admire the antiques and the iconic chintzes at the tied back with rosettes scrunched from the same fabric, all based
decorating firm of Colefax & Fowler, then seductively arranged in on examples in 18th-century upholsterers’ manuals—along with
an 18th-century town house that once belonged to the legendary those in Pauline de Rothschild’s fabled London apartment, which
Nancy Lancaster and was famed for the high-ceilinged drawing was designed with John Fowler himself. The yellow drawing-room
room that she painted “buttah-yellah”. Galliano clearly admired windows, meanwhile, are hung with a silver and buff African-
that room, as well as the exacting haute couture standards of the inspired glazed cotton that Galliano worked on with Fortuny,
firm’s custom work—“finding craftspeople,” as Galliano notes, “is and the main bedroom is hung and curtained with a chintz from
like gold”—and collaborated with the decorators on the curtains Antoinette Poisson that evokes the blue-and-white azulejos tiles
for his Paris apartment. In Gerberoy he worked with Daniel Slowik, that Galliano admired in Portuguese gardens and houses. (He was
formerly at Colefax & Fowler. “It was a very collaborative process,” so obsessed with them, in fact, that he commissioned the trompe
Slowik recalls, “and it was fun to work with a fashion designer who l’oeil artist Eloïse d’Argent to create a narrative sequence of Delft
understands the feel and idea of couture. He’s always going for the tiles that now spins its tale on the Salon Jaune’s fireplace wall, and
most exciting options.” brings even more light into the room when the fireplace is roaring.)

Ancient kilim carpets, for instance, were carefully The property is protected by a 1779 gatehouse—now
reassembled into a patchwork runner for the staircase, which crowned with a banner, crafted by the Margiela atelier, depicting
is adorned with racy drawings and photographs, while antique two roosters ( galli in Spanish, for Galliano)—that once served as
Moroccan wedding coverlets, their purple silk floss embroidery monks’ quarters. Galliano created a brace of guest rooms and a
long faded to raspberry pink, were hung unlined in the upstairs soaring atelier in the space, complete with a library of his favourite
pink drawing room to filter the daylight. “He’s so interested in
where the light falls and catches,” says Slowik, who drew colour
inspiration from paintings and objects in Galliano’s collection.
(Galliano also put amber glass panes in the door to the kitchen so
that at teatime the dining room is bathed in light.)

The dining room, with wide, tapestry-seated Louis Quinze

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HIDDEN GEMS
From left: Roche walks
the stone garden path;
in the guest bedroom,
a Directoire bed
sits below artworks
including, at top
centre, a fashion study
by Howard Tangye,
Galliano’s tutor at
Central Saint Martins.

FRAMES OF
REFERENCE
In the Salon Jaune,
a Louis XV chair is
surrounded by Indian
miniature paintings.

reference books. (His beloved first-edition Dickens novels, with shades. “They’re from a Japanese monastery,” Galliano says, and
the illustrations that so inspired him as a child and as a fashion were assembled by Lilou Marquand, a friend and collaborator of
student, are kept closer to his bedside table.) Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel. Galliano, who describes the nonagenarian
Marquand as “an artist, a poet”, was bidden for tea at her Parisian
After the atelier’s terracotta tomette tiles underfoot were home to see if he passed muster as a client. “You could feel the
carefully restored and laid with antique Turkish rugs, Galliano energy zooming around her,” Galliano says. He was enraptured by
had small squares of the different colours that he was considering her atelier: “An Aladdin’s cave of wonderment, of Japanese fabrics,
painted around the room to determine the changing effect of the Indian sari fabrics from the ’30s, pom-poms, trims, tassels—I
light. “The ultimate test with me is always candles,” says Galliano. was gagging on the Chanel ribbons!” At one point during the visit,
“The glow, and how the colour reacts. That’s when the colour Madame Marquand “trod on something—I don’t know whether it
really sings. I spend a lot of time in candlelight.” He settled on a rich had fallen out of her very elegant trouser suit, or if it was already
terracotta, a colour that he describes as “almost like a deep breath on the floor”, Galliano recalls. “She picked it up, and it was like this
in the evening”. That singing pink is painted eight layers deep, little elephant: a pincushion, with really sharp pins on it”, fashioned
ceiling and all. “I wanted this kind of cocooning effect—the idea from pink silk velvet that had rubbed bald through years of use and
was that the light would reverberate and bounce off each wall and love. “I’d never seen anything so gorgeous,” Galliano says. “I’d like
the roof,” he continues. “And it works. It’s super relaxing in here. I you to have this,” Marquand told him. “It belonged to Coco.”
come to pull out my favourite Vionnet book and dream.”
With Marquand’s blinds at the window, the room, notes the
Through the centuries, artisans—tile makers, glass- designer—in true Galliano-speak—“is a little bit of Marlene-on-
blowers, and, of course, the tapestry workshops of nearby the-train”. He is referring to Marlene Dietrich in director Josef von
Beauvais—have flourished in this region of France. In homage Sternberg’s 1932 Shanghai Express, veiled and shaded in feathery
to their work, Galliano began sleuthing the artworks originally glamour by the legendary costume designer Travis Banton. “It’s a
created to serve as templates for those weavers at the local antique place of mystery,” says Galliano.
fairs. “I kind of live, breathe my work,” Galliano avers, “so, being at
Maison Margiela, this idea just came very naturally to find these The atmosphere of the house is enhanced by the
wonderful cartoons and recycle them, upcycle them.” He cut them soundtrack—Billie Holiday’s plaintive voice on the day I visited, for
up into a collage of imaginary landscapes that now cover one wall. instance—and the heady, richly layered fragrances that Galliano
“I love the trompe l’oeil effect of real trees swaying and refracting in loves, including church incense, Diptyque’s musk, Santa Maria
their light,” Galliano explains. “I was playing with the idea of the Novella’s pomegranate, and Indian joss sticks that waft through
outside in and the inside out. I’ve saved some,” he adds, “and when the rooms.
the fancy takes me, I’ll do another little collage.”
The main house is also one room deep and flooded with
The atelier’s mystery is further enhanced by the window light from both sides. That upstairs pink sitting room is filled with

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CULTURE Escape

RURAL SPRAWL The house is a palimpsest
Clockwise from of the places Galliano
bottom: “We felt there and Roche have travelled.
was a soul to the
village,” says Roche of devotional church figures in their antique robes of shattering silk
charming Gerberoy; (“I turn everything into shrines,” Galliano confesses), and the
the upstairs sitting drawing room below is painted another 18th-century colour that
room; Galliano’s robust was known, as Galliano notes with delight, as pipi de vache, as it
reference library (and was inspired by the urine of cattle fed a mango diet. “Once again,”
some very impressive he explains, “it’s an amazing colour that works in a mysterious
flower arrangements) way in sunlight and sunset, and glows in candlelight.”
presides over the
atelier, painted a The fruits of Galliano’s sleuthing with Roche are abundantly
cosy terracotta. evident. His suave juxtapositions in the Salon Jaune for instance—
including splay-legged 1950s Gio Ponti armchairs upholstered
182 in a chintz design of plump pomegranates and peonies, a rosy
needlepoint rug, a 1940s marmalade red velvet sofa, a Louis XV
chair in sunflower silk velvet, and an 18th-century painted Italian
commode—bring the room seductively into the 21st century and
illustrate the couple’s passions.

Galliano thinks nothing of hanging a Sex Pistols poster or
Ron Raffaelli’s portrait of Jimi Hendrix to jostle 19th-century salon
art, Brassaï and Penn photographs, and homoerotic Jean Cocteau
drawings. ‘Madame Bijou’, Brassaï’s 1932 portrait of a dishevelled
woman sitting at a table in a bar, an original print of which
now hangs in Galliano’s guest bathroom, “has inspired many a

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CULTURE Escape

collection,” the designer confides. “The volume of the coat, the hat,
the wig, the jewels, the fallen stockings, the tap-dancing shoes—I
mean, it’s just an endless dialogue with ‘Madame Bijou’!”

The house is also a palimpsest of the places Galliano and
Roche have travelled, particularly on the epic inspiration trips
that Galliano once took with his teams for his eponymous brand
and for Christian Dior, the house that he redefined as artistic
director from 1996 to 2011. These travels took them to Japan, China
and India, among other exciting locales. One end of the Salon
Jaune, for instance, is hung with a collection of exquisite 17th-
and 18th-century Indian miniatures found in Rajasthan on that
India reconnaissance mission. “There’s always been a magical
relationship with India,” Galliano says.

Outside, Galliano worked with Camille Muller to create a
romantic, English-inspired garden, although it is an ancient beech
tree that perhaps excites his imagination the most. (In the last
quarter of the 18th century, a complaint was brought against the
house’s dissolute owner, and Galliano is convinced that the scars
in the stately plane tree’s trunk are a flagellant’s stigmata.)

Soon after they arrived, Galliano and Roche befriended
the village’s colourful cast of neighbours, who now provide
gardening and psychic advice, gossip, delicious produce and local
culinary delicacies. Dressed like a Bloomsbury Group eccentric
on an afternoon that I visited—in a Margiela prototype sweater
knitted from strips of blue and lilac gingham, a Margiela trench,
Wellington boots, and a woven-straw cloche hat pulled down low
on his brow—Galliano set off with Roche to pay his calls with
the couple’s Brussels Griffons, Gypsy and Coco, gambolling at
their feet.

He seemed very much at home.

184

SITTINGS EDITOR, HAMISH BOWLES CULTURE Escape

THE LONG HAUL
From top: In the
entrance hall of
the main house,
handsome terracotta
tiles and Turkish
rugs lie underfoot,
while an eclectic
mix of drawings and
photography hangs
on the staircase walls;
trailed by Coco, Roche
and Galliano head off
into town.

183

Photography TEREZA MUNDILOVA Words SANDHYA MAHADEVAN

ARTISTin RESIDENCE
Continuing from pages 18 and 19, Caroline Denervaud’s work ‘Looking for Grace’
for Vogue Singapore urges a dialogue with self.

Scan the QR code to
see the making of
‘Looking for Grace’.

For this issue of Vogue Singapore,
Caroline Denervaud defines the
theme ‘Grace’ as a “divine gift—
it is gentle and elegant; subtle
yet perfect”. It is for that reason that she
chose orange and pink, two colours that
merge when passed through black and
white but are able to coexist in nature.
Complementing this are her dance
movements, which play on the balance
between verticality and horizontality.
Denervaud’s interpretation of ‘grace’ is a
slight deviation from her usual creation
process where she begins with a trace,
which she then builds up to a painting.
Here, the chosen colours dictate form and
structure, from the canvas that forms the
stage and backdrop of her performance
to the graphic yet feminine garment she
wears—”so that my body melds with the
background but yet stands out”. Devoid of
any form of aggression, the colours, and
her movements and expressions fill the
screen with vibrant energy and draw away
from the unfinished trace. As Denervaud
explains: “Here, grace will remain the idea
and the starting impulse that the viewer
can build on.”

“I am happy if my art can be a source of reverie.
I am only proposing and I leave the viewers the possibility

of doing or feeling something about it.”

186

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