How One Stylist Helped Galliano Get a Homeless Man's 'Look'

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Zoolander has come to life yet again, but this time there's no punch line. Charles Manning, Cosmopolitan.com's style editor, was once the assistant to John Galliano's stylist Mel Ottenberg (Mel is now stylist to Rihanna). Manning spoke out today on his experiences creating the final looks that Galliano would walk out in after his runway shows at Dior, and there's no shortage of crazy anecdotes.

For Dior's 2009 cruise collection, Galliano wanted his costume to resemble the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist and the stylist and his assistant dutifully went about making it happen. This included, but was not limited to: Blowing through a $5,000 budget and reaching into Galliano's personal clothing budget for $2,000 boots and $1,000 pants to complete the look. But the adventure was capped off when the stylist was struck by inspiration after passing a homeless man on the way back from their shopping spree.

The stylist's assistant recounts:

On our way back to the office Mel saw a homeless man digging through a garbage can on the corner and said, "That's the look. It's perfect. Ask him how much he wants for it?"

"How much he wants for what?"

"Everything! The coat, the shoes, those socks. That's the look!"

Manning refused and the stylist settled for snapping a picture to use as outfit inspiration. He goes on to artfully destroy the boots, pants, and socks in true DIY fashion, and Galliano loved the final look.

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