Galliano's comeback collection dropped from Paris couture line-up

British designer John Galliano's decision to show his comeback couture collection in London instead of Paris has resulted in him being dropped from Paris's haute couture calendar for January.

Galliano, 54, widely regarded as one of the most brilliant fashion minds of his generation, was sacked by Dior in March 2011 over an anti-Semitic tirade in a Paris bar.

His January return to fashion was to have been the highlight of the Paris shows but his new employer Maison Margiela on Wednesday announced that his collection would "exceptionally" be presented in London and not Paris.

John Galliano is dropped from Paris's haute couture calendar

Apparently aware that the decision might raise eyebrows -- couture only exists in Paris -- and that it could be seen as snub to Paris, Margiela called the decision a one-off. "The choice of this location for John's first show is both personal -- going back to his formative years and his beginnings in the industry -- and it is intrinsically related to the city's traditional tailoring history and heritage," it said.

Galliano had originally been included in the January programme, but after news of the London event emerged, it appears his name was removed. "It's the application of the rules. In the couture calendar, you only have original collections that have not been seen elsewhere," Stephane Wargnier, executive president of the French Federation of Couture, told AFP.

"Since it (the couture collection) will have been seen in London, it cannot be presented as part of the calendar," he said. Around 100 people have been invited to the London event which will take place on January 12 during the London men's fashion shows. In Paris, the collection is scheduled to be shown by appointment, during the Paris couture shows from January 25 to 31.

Haute couture is an exclusively Paris-based branch of the fashion industry, worn only by the world's richest women. A legally protected appellation in France, it is subject to strict criteria, such as the amount of work carried out by hand and the size of the fashion house's workforce.

Galliano, who spent nearly 15 years at Dior and was seen as the driving force behind Dior's 700 million euro (880 million dollars) annual profits at the height of his time there, has kept a low profile since his sacking and subsequent conviction for anti-Semitism.

Announcing his appointment as Maison Margiela creative director in October, Renzo Rosso, whose OTB group controls Margiela, however, described him as "one of the greatest undisputed talents of all time". (AFP)