‘Quality is key’: Dior’s CEO Delphine Arnault on opening a new chapter at the maison

Dior chief executive Delphine Arnault has said she is opening “a new chapter” at LVMH’s second-biggest brand, emphasising that “quality is key” as new creative director Jonathan Anderson makes his runway debut amid a luxury downturn.

The appointment of the Northern Ireland-born designer in May 2025 made him the first designer since the brand’s founder, Christian Dior, to oversee both the men’s and women’s collections.

He is assuming creative control of a brand with an estimated €9.5 billion (US$11.14 billion; S$14.21 billion) in revenues at a time of deteriorating luxury demand, especially in Asia. 

The choice of Anderson, 40, is the biggest bet by Arnault — eldest child and only daughter of LVMH chair and chief executive Bernard Arnault — since she took the helm in 2023 from former star executive Pietro Beccari, who moved to Louis Vuitton.

Anderson, who grew up in the small town of Magherafelt during the Troubles, kicked off Dior’s new era with a menswear show last Friday (Jun 27). 

“Dior is a fascinating brand,” Arnault told the Financial Times from her office in Paris. “I worked at Dior from 2001 until 2013, so it’s the brand that I know. The growth was spectacular but I think my role as the CEO is to know when it’s time to change. And now it’s a new chapter.” 

“I’m interested to see what is going to come up . . . in a way that’s very elevated, very qualitative,” said Arnault of her hopes for Anderson’s new designs. “The next five years is going to be all about quality in the materials and the manufacturing. Quality is key.”

Before the current downturn Dior had been one of the luxury industry’s star performers. Revenues quadrupled to €9.5 billion between 2017 and 2023, according to estimates from HSBC, helped by extensive price rises.

But Arnault’s tenure has thus far coincided with a sharp slowdown in the luxury market, especially in China, and consumer pushback against price inflation. Already fragile consumer confidence could be damaged further by the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a scandal involving labour practices at subcontractors in Italy — Dior agreed to settle a probe last month “without establishing any infringement” — has tarnished the brand’s image.

“The focus [for Arnault] is on reinvigorating sales growth in the aftermath of a period of booming sales,” said Zuzanna Pusz, European luxury goods analyst at UBS. “But also focusing on re-establishing the value for money relationship in the eyes of the consumer, especially for leather goods.” 

In April, LVMH’s chief financial officer Cecile Cabanis told analysts that Dior’s first quarter organic sales growth was “slightly below” the 5 per cent drop seen across its fashion and leather goods division.

The appointment of Anderson is part of Dior’s attempt to find a new creative impetus after nine years under outgoing designer Maria Grazia Chiuri.