Galliano says leaving Maison Margiela after 10 years

British designer John Galliano said Wednesday he was stepping down as creative director at Maison Margiela after 10 years at the helm of the French label.

"Today is the day I say goodbye to Maison Margiela," Galliano wrote in a long Instagram post paying tribute to the Italian fashion mogul and owner of the brand, Renzo Rosso.

"The greatest, most precious gift he (Rosso) gave me was the opportunity to once again find my creative voice when I had become voiceless," he added.

Galliano, 64, took the reins at Margiela after being fired in 2011 from his job as creative director of Dior following a drunken rant in a Paris bar where he hurled anti-Semitic and racist insults at a couple.

As part of an extended and public rehabilitation process, he stood up in the Central Synagogue in London to apologise and declare "I am an alcoholic. I am an addict."

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Galliano's decision to leave Margiela is the latest move in a game of musical chairs underway in the fashion industry which has seen a succession of changes at major brands.

There had been rumours that Galliano would move on from Margiela with the end of his contract nearing.

Some industry insiders have tipped him for a move back to Dior.

"The rumours... everyone wants to know and everyone wants to dream," Galliano wrote. "When the time is right, all will be revealed."

There remains a vacancy at Chanel, the world's second-biggest luxury clothing brand, after the departure of its creative director, Virginie Viard, in June.

Bottega Veneta creative director Matthieu Blazy, a 40-year-old Franco-Belgian who previously worked at Maison Margiela, has been heavily linked to that job.

Source: AFP