Christian Dior suspended its star fashion designer John Galliano on Friday pending an inquiry into accusations that he hurled racist remarks at a couple in a Paris bar.

About a week before Galliano was due to present Dior’s collection in Paris, police were called to a bar in the city’s trendy Marais district on Thursday evening where they found the designer doling out a drunken torrent of abuse to a couple. Galliano’s lawyer Stephane Zerbib said two complaints had been filed with police against his client for making racist or anti-Semitic comments – a crime in France – but he said Galliano “firmly and formally” denied doing so.