Gods & Kings by Dana Thomas: A Must Read Novel!!

Alexander McQueen and John Galliano fueled the 1990s fashion world with ego and excess, according to new book.

'Gods and Kings' by Dana Thomas pulls back the veil on a decade of hedonism and genius. McQueen killed himself and Galliano killed his career.

A world of violence, debauchery, status-seeking courtesans and revolutionary taboo breaking falls under the weight of its own decadence and hedonism.

Roman Empire? No, the fashion universe of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.

These two twisted creative geniuses turned the 1990s into the decade of fashion excess, when top designers were so enabled that they could have their limo drive them directly to the beach in St. Tropez or have a minion demand a room backstage at a fashion show where the boss could shoot up.

The behind-the-scenes dramas of McQueen and Galliano explode in the new book, “Gods and Kings” by Paris-based fashion writer Dana Thomas, who covered the industry for Newsweek for a decade.

McQueen and Galliano provided the high- and lowlights of her career.

“Both had their demons,” says Thomas. “They made a Faustian bargain with a monster that sucked the life out of them.”

That monster was luxury fashion. The era provided unprecedented profits — but also enormous pressure to deliver the next sensation and send shock waves from the runway. The pressure was unrelenting — in McQueen’s case, fatal; in Galliano’s case, ruinous.

Here's a Galliano look from 1993, during the era of excess.

McQueen’s maid found him hanging in his London home on Feb. 11, 2010. Little more than a year later Galliano imploded, spewing anti-Semitic slurs as he attacked a woman in a Paris café. He was briefly banished from the business, though he is attempting a comeback as creative director of the Paris-based house Maison Martin Margiela.

“McQueen was trying to get help. His work schedule was so frenetic he kept canceling his shrink appointments. It was heartbreaking,” says Thomas.

“With Galliano it was always the drink. Drink. Drink. Drink.”

 

In "Gods and Kings," fashion writer Dana Thomas tells the story of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano whose spectacular rise and tragic fall ended the era of superstar designers.

Galliano and McQueen were both rising designers in 1996 when Bernard Arnault, the French luxury tycoon, dared to hand over the venerated houses of Dior and Givenchy to the boys from London. The mandate? Create buzz.

“The goal was spectacularly flamboyant shows (to get) attention around the world,” Thomas says.

In those drug- and ego-fueled days, the competition was fierce to grab the headlines. This was the era when Tom Ford sent a man down a runway in a Gucci-logo-covered G-string.

                           

“That did it for me,” laughs Thomas. “But the pace was unsustainable and it caused a lot of wreckage.”

Galliano sought inspiration in late-night binges in clubs — but then wouldn’t show up for work. Meanwhile, he was so coddled he never learned how to use an ATM or send an email. He was driven even short distances in his ubiquitous car, the windows tinted black. Thomas once saw him being driven to a beach in St. Tropez.

McQueen only got more crazed after he quit Dior and took his own label to Gucci in 2000. His madness was perfectly captured by a bizarre demand his advance team made to Barneys executives before a menswear event in New York. McQueen, the execs were told, would would need a room “where he can do his drugs.” Barneys said no and McQueen skipped the show.

It all ended badly. It had to. And fashion closed the door on an era of the superstar designer — for better, but also for worse, Thomas says.

“The kids designing today are far more like employees,” she says. “And they are treated like employees. They work for the machine, cash their checks and have health benefits.”