Galliano, 50, was fired as creative director for fashion empire Dior in March after a video surfaced online showing him, apparently inebriated, telling a woman he "loved Hitler" and that her parents might have been gassed in a Nazi death camp.

The video, filmed in December, sent shockwaves through the fashion world as complaints surfaced over two separate incidents of alleged anti-Semitic slurs by the British designer, which will be dealt with at Wednesday's trial.

If found guilty Galliano faces up to 22,000 euros ($31,500) in fines and a six-month prison sentence, people close to the case said.