John Galliano row: Is Dior damaged?
Dior moved quickly to take action following news of the designer's apparent drunken rant, and then a video
During the last week or so Christian Dior has negotiated a potentially disastrous blow to the label's image with some success, with experts predicting that the brand will ride out the controversy surrounding its now former star designer.
The stakes involved are extremely high. Dior is worth around €19bn (£16.3bn) and Bernard Arnault, the billionaire luxury goods chief who chairs the company, is also the majority shareholder. He can take some comfort from the fact that couture sales within Dior, the side of the business most closely associated with John Galliano, made up just 4%of its €20.3bn sales in 2010.
Dior, which is favoured by the French president's wife, Carla Bruni, for official engagements, moved quickly to suspend Galliano as soon as news of the designer's apparent drunken rant broke last Friday, following his arrest in Paris.
He was fired the following Tuesday, after an incriminating video of a separate incident was posted online, and public criticism from Oscar-winning actor and face of the Miss Dior Cherie fragrance, Natalie Portman. "They handled it extremely quickly and efficiently, which is quite important for a brand with that visibility and that type of business," said Erwan Rambourg, luxury analyst for HSBC. "From a sales perspective and an image perspective, I don't think the damage will be felt. You might see a sort of dip in traffic for a few weeks."
It is unclear what the financial impact will be on Dior, if anything. Selfridges and Harrods, which both have large Dior concessions, declined to comment on whether the scandal might affect future collections for the label.
Galliano may find his own business more difficult. Selfridges did issue a statement directed at Galliano's eponymous label: "In light of recent comments made by John Galliano, Selfridges is presently reviewing the future of John Galliano collections in all its stores."
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