Dior to sack Galliano over racist rant

French fashion house Dior has started proceedings to sack its chief designer John Galliano after he allegedly subjected a couple drinking in a fashionable Paris cafe on Thursday to an anti-Semitic rant. The British couturier had already been suspended by the company last week after he was arrested and questioned by French police over the incident. 

Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes

On Tuesday, the British daily newspaper, the Sun, released a video of an earlier incident in the same Paris cafe in which he launched a similar rant and was heard to say "I love Hitler."

Dior Managing Director Sidney Toldeano strongly condemned Galliano's action which he described as "in complete opposition to the essential values that have always been defended by the Christian Dior house".

French prosecutors are examining conflicting testimony of the incident before deciding whether to charge Galliano with anti-Semitic and abusive behaviour. Witnesses in the cafe confirm the couple had a fierce dispute with the designer but no independent source is thought to have confirmed his use of anti-Semitic language.

Galliano has denied the charge and lodged a complaint for defamation.

Dior's 2011 autumn-winter collection will be unveiled as planned at a Paris Fashion Week catwalk show on Friday, without Galliano, whose flamboyant poses usually mark the climax of the house's presentiation.