Christian Dior

"He also allows Guinness to buy 16% of Christian Dior, but these were securities that Crédit Lyonnais had on its hands! In both cases, Arnault cleverly presents his progress as a concession. Tennant, thus, does not lose face even though he had to give in to the young Frenchman."

"Initially, Financière Agache transferred its 86.5% stake in Conforama to one of its unlisted subsidiaries, IPS, whose main asset until then was a 20% stake in La Belle Jardinière. Then, IPS was absorbed by Le Bon Marché, which thus became the parent company of Conforama and the majority shareholder (75%) of La Belle Jardinière. This created a group "combining both commercial dynamism and control of significant real estate assets," according to the statement by Financière Agache, a group that investors should not turn their noses up at. Arnault expects them to subscribe later to a 2.4 billion franc capital increase for Le Bon Marché, the proceeds of which will be reinvested in Christian Dior."

"rnault saw potential in Christian Dior, a more attractive company within his group. He believed that he could better convince investors by showcasing the store on Avenue Montaigne. However, there was a problem: Dior was indeed a magical, universally known name, but it was a small business with only 600 million in revenue and 50 million in profits. It was valued at 1 billion at most, which was far from the 7 billion needed. Undeterred, Arnault decided to inflate Dior's value with Jacques Rober's stake in LVMH. As a result, the fashion house became a holding company valued at over 8 billion. For the first time, the prestige of a brand, transformed into a holding company, was used to attract investors."

"Thanks to Crédit Lyonnais' devotion, which lent the money and was now burdened with Christian Dior shares, Arnault found 3.3 billion francs from others. However, he needed to contribute 2 billion of his own to complete the capital increase while retaining 58% of Dior. Where would he find these funds? Robert Léon suggested selling one of his distribution companies, either Conforama or Le Bon Marché. However, such a possibility did not fit into Arnault's strategy, as he disliked selling assets. Furthermore, these two companies were listed on the stock exchange, providing the opportunity to raise capital."

"To understand the reasons for this enrichment, Antoine Gaudino dissected the operations that took place in 1993 and 1994 between the Compagnie Financière du Nord and the Worms group, which sold its subsidiary Financière Truffaut to the former for 800 million francs. Through a complicated scheme, involving mergers, capital reductions, asset transfers from Jacques Rober, Guinness France between Financière Agache on one side, Christian Dior on the other, latent losses would have been lodged with Christian Dior (at the bottom of the cascade) and capital gains with Financière Agache (at the top), according to Antoine Gaudino. He estimates that the "capital gain that should have been recorded in favor of [...] Christian Dior" was 573.6 million francs and claims that it "was diverted by Financière Agache during its intervention on April 29, 1994, just before Christian Dior took over Guinness France.""

"On April 29, 1994, the Christian Dior and LVMH shares were sold by Guinness to Financière Agache for 11.7 billion francs, while their stock market value that day was 16.911 billion, representing a loss of more than 5 billion for Guinness! In reality, this loss is only apparent. Guinness received 3.7 billion in cash but also 34% of Moët-Hennessy, until then a 100% subsidiary of LVMH, with an estimated value of 8 billion francs. However, this stake was also "obtained at a significantly undervalued price," asserts the Gaudino report, which, in the absence of accounting documents, establishes an evaluation of Moët-Hennessy by comparing the operating results with those of LVMH and its stock market value. From these calculations, it appears that Guinness benefited from an undervaluation of the price of Moët-Hennessy shares for a total amount of 7 billion francs. "This loss was clearly incurred to the detriment of the minority shareholders of LVMH, who held the sold Moët-Hennessy shares." In other words, by selling its LVMH and Christian Dior shares to Financière Agache below their price on the one hand and, on the other hand, by acquiring LVMH shares of Moët-Hennessy, also undervalued, Guinness would have made a neutral operation, but would have massively enriched Bernard Arnault (shareholder of Financière Agache). This contested operation led to the almost doubling of Christian Dior's interest percentage in LVMH, which rose from 24% to 40.75%."

"For Christian Dior, the French designer who marked the golden age of haute couture, fashion is an intangible, uncategorizable concept, to define it exactly would be reductive. "It's a ballet, it's the spray of water in the park, the most sublime orchestra of intuitive elegance," Dior said, the great star of the fashion business post World War II, the first designer to be featured on the cover of Time magazine."

"After being appointed president of CBSF, Bernard Arnault takes over the coveted presidency of Christian Dior on March 20, 1985."

"Immediately after the war, in 1947, he created his own fashion house with Christian Dior. From the moment of his first collection, presented in February 1947, his "flower women" who embody the New Look, toured the world. Under the management of his manager, Jacques Rouet, Dior becomes an essential star of French luxury. Manufacturing licenses for all kinds of fashion accessories are sold worldwide."

"- preserve and increase the prestige of Christian Dior, ensure a coherence of its development policy with that of Parfums Christian Dior, and bring together within a single company the legal entities that compose it, the French and foreign business funds, trademark registrations, and the buildings on avenue Montaigne."

"When they discover Christian Dior, the Willot brothers are very discreet. They tread on the carpet of the offices on Avenue Montaigne on tiptoes and dare not show themselves too much in the workshops located on the upper floors... They especially do not want to disrupt this fine cash-producing machine and will only make a discreet appearance at the avenue Montaigne store. Jean-Pierre admiringly contemplates the cash flow from this fine conquest."

"The distribution subsidiaries held by SFFAW, Au Bon Marché, La Belle Jardinière, and Conforama, which are profitable and not under judicial settlement, continue on their own path. The crown jewel, Christian Dior, a subsidiary of BSF, is already the object of all covetousness. There is talk of taking it public along with Conforama."

"understand that they can get a better deal from the liberal tide. ". Indeed, time works for them. The trials they have initiated against the lease management contract and its implementing acts delay all proposals for solutions in their case. The liabilities of companies under judicial settlement are frozen. The resolution of bad businesses, Korvettes and Galeries Anspach, is now behind them. Additionally, the solvent subsidiaries: Confo-rama, Au Bon Marché, la Belle Jardinière and especially Christian Dior significantly improve their performance and increase their value accordingly."

"The Boussac Saint Frères file is one of those. The quality and influence of the Christian Dior brand greatly impressed Bernard Arnault. He would really like to know more... He knows the brothers, who are also from the North, why not meet them? On July 15, 1984, a first meeting takes place in Croix, at Croquet, the name of Jean-Pierre Willot's lavish home. Who will outsmart whom? Bernard Arnault mostly talks about Dior, but it's all or nothing..."

"Dior must embody "the most beautiful thing in the world," Bernard Arnault is convinced of this. So he attacks the symbol: the building on Avenue Montaigne. It will be completely rebuilt, modernized, while keeping the spirit of Christian Dior. On the fourth floor, the president's office and those of his close collaborators overlook a rotunda, the small living room is adorned with a portrait of Christian Dior and a few white flowers, two dining rooms are planned. The entire floor is covered in pearl grey, walls, mouldings, carpets, and decorated with large black and white photos of the new-look era collections. A mixture of coldness, refinement, and supreme elegance..."

"On Wednesday, October 26th, Bernard Arnault chose the general assembly of his flagship company (Financière Agache) to announce his plans: now that he holds a blocking minority in LVMH, he will restructure his distribution group (Bon Marché, Belle Jardinière, Conforama) inherited from Boussac around a clear organizational chart with the goal of raising capital. The plan: Bon Marché becomes the parent company of Conforama, of which it will own 86.5% of the capital, and strengthens its stake in Belle Jardinière to 75.7%. At the end of the operation (see table 2), the whole group will combine a large real estate capital (about 100,000 square meters for Bon Marché alone) with a significant distribution force. It will represent nearly 300 million francs in net profits in 1988 for a turnover of over 7 billion francs. This structure will allow Bernard Arnault to appeal to the market under good conditions. He plans to proceed with a capital increase of 2.4 billion francs, which will be reinvested in Christian Dior."

"In the case of Bernard Arnault, Groupe Arnault will control 85.6% of Financière Agache, which holds 98.6% of Bon Marché Holding, itself holding 58.9% of Christian Dior, a 100% shareholder of Financière Jean Goujon, the principal shareholder with a 42.5% stake in LVMH. Historically, this system of "poulies bretonnes" has sometimes been criticized for favoring opacity in the financial situation of the groups in question, with the debts of the parent companies often being "transformed" into equity in the entities located on lower levels."

"“With the sudden eloquence of the shy.” Christian Dior begins by explaining that “his desire was not to resurrect an old house but to create one with his name, in a neighborhood of his choice, where everything would be new” … The house of his dreams “would be very small, very closed, with few workshops; they would work there according to the traditions of the best tailoring intended for a clientele of truly elegant women.” He also explains that he “would only make seemingly simple models, but with very elaborate craftsmanship.” Furthermore and above all, he speaks of the foreign markets lost during the war and says that to reconquer them, we must “return to the tradition of great luxury of French couture.” When, out of breath and surprised by his own boldness, Dior falls silent, he fears greatly that his interlocutor found him a bit presumptuous. Yet…: “I listened,” Boussac told me, “during our conversation that lasted nearly an hour, to Christian Dior analyzing haute couture, describing to me how he conceived his profession, everything that had fascinated him, how he saw the evolution of couture worldwide. Before accompanying him out, I told him that his project was quite different from mine, that it might be ambitious but that after all, his point of view was interesting and needed reflection. After Christian Dior’s departure, Henri Fayol came into my office and immediately asked me:"

"Dior said: “Beyond all the frills, only the numbers judge and speak.” The numbers indeed confirm beyond all expectations the success achieved with the press and world opinion. In fifteen days the anticipated revenue for the year has already been achieved. It reaches one hundred and thirty million by the end of this first year. The average price of a dress was then 25,000 francs. Even before the opening of the house, another granvillais friend of Christian Dior, Serge Heftler-Louiche (the house is decidedly a Norman stronghold!), proposed to him to create the company “Parfums Christian Dior [3](private://read/01jjdy9maqdsy9c2bv37rfja01/#bookmark8).” It was founded on March 4, 1947, and the growth of its revenue, which started like a rocket, would be as vertiginous as that of the parent company."

"But it was in 1949 that the initiative was taken which would experience astounding expansion and then be imitated by other fashion designers: the signing of a first licensing contract for stockings and ties in the United States. The development of the “license” activity experienced such momentum that today it represents 80% of the turnover of the house [5](private://read/01jjdy9maqdsy9c2bv37rfja01/#bookmark10). An innovator in this field as he was a pioneer of ready-to-wear, Christian Dior was only reluctantly followed in this direction by Marcel Boussac. The industrialist would have preferred to leave haute couture on a pedestal. He feared that widespread dissemination would diminish Dior’s prestige. He would have preferred the house to retain its exclusive character. Commercial expansion was thus carried out against his ideas. The roles were reversed: the sponsor was a supporter of luxury craftsmanship and it was the creator who advocated the exploitation of the brand."

"Fifteen days before his death, Christian Dior had said to Jacques Rouët: “Yves Saint-Laurent is young, but he has immense talent; in my last collection, the one from July 1957, I estimate that of one hundred eighty models, there are thirty-four of which he is the father. I think the time has come, for my prestige will not suffer, to reveal him to the press.”"

"Once again, the intuition of the great Boussac has not faltered: he knows how to immediately recognize the winning horse. Never mind if he is not the originally sought designer. The old Philippe and Gaston house, at the end of its rope, will be closed. A new one will be created in the name of Christian Dior. If he needs his name and independence as the price for success, this exception to the sacred principles of an “empire” becoming liberal will be accepted. The candidate is worth the gamble. For once, Boussac lets it happen, and he will reap gold. Dior will crown the great businessman with the legend of King Midas."

"Christian Dior also managed to bring into his success all the craftsmanship, dormant during the war, of corset makers, embroiderers, and feather makers who are revived thanks to this frenzy of creation and rediscovered splendor. When his second collection pushed the “new look” line to its ultimate consequences and his dresses reached an improbable yardage, he was accused of having been dictated to by Marcel Boussac this extravagant expenditure of fabric. Christian Dior replied that it was false and that neither this fashion nor the use of his own fabrics were ever imposed on him by Marcel Boussac: “In truth, Marcel Boussac had given me complete freedom, reserving judgment for my results.”"

"His persona was multifaceted: a gray eminence of politics and the press, he was also the founder of “Christian Dior,” the creator of the world’s most famous racing stable, a billionaire like those only found in America, and finally, the happy husband of a diva whose voice and beauty had enchanted Europe in the roaring twenties. Through his single and long life, the history of this century appeared with all its proliferation of political, economic, and social events. Sacred monsters have always fascinated me. I resolved to write the biography of this one."

"Or Boussac, instead of following the path set by Christian Dior himself, decides to entrust his succession to the team as a whole. Did he fear that Yves Saint-Laurent’s youth would deprive him of sufficient experience? “Saint-Laurent, young! He’s a year older than I was when I started,” he would retort later. Nevertheless, he himself drafted the following statement: “The future of the house will be assured by those whom Christian Dior himself had put in place: the studio will be led by Mrs. Zenacker, the technical direction of couture will still be ensured by the great technician Mrs. Bricard. All designs will be executed under the responsibility of Yves Saint-Laurent, Christian Dior’s favorite disciple.”"

"fortune continued to favor him because, even before he started looking for a location, someone happened to inform him that the small hotel at 30 Avenue Montaigne was for rent. Now, Christian Dior had always dreamed of settling there: “In a city as vast as Paris, only one suited me: the one I had, without knowing it, described to Boussac. Indeed, many years before this decisive conversation, I had stopped in front of two small adjoining hotels on Avenue Montaigne, 28 and 30. I praised their small proportions, sober elegance, without too overwhelming a ‘pedigree’… It had to be 30, Avenue Montaigne.”"

"For Dior was born purely by chance, and quite fortuitously, in the street! Yes, it was in the street that this whole story played out: from a simple encounter began the reconquest of a famous avenue, the Seventh Avenue in New York, where Parisian couturiers, cut off from America for five years, had completely lost ground. The miracle of Paris’s resurrection as the fashion capital will arise from a few words exchanged and a few steps taken together by two figures on the sidewalks of rue Saint-Florentin, where Boussac owns a modest and faded couture house; from rue Royale where lives a respectable but… BO^OU^^^^U^JBOUSSAÇ. an obscure designer from Lelong, Christian Dior; and from rue Saint-Honoré, which crosses the two previous streets and that Dior takes every day to get to work."

"“I have always been interested in haute couture. I needed it for my main business, textiles, and clothing. I had previously followed the creations of Loiret, of Paquin… I wanted to make the street prettier, more attractive. Because it is the fashionable women’s outfits that embellish it. I had founded a small house: ‘Philippe et Gaston,’ on rue Saint-Florentin. In 1946, Mr. and Mrs. Gaston were getting old and asked to retire. I needed a designer. I turned to Lelong, who was president of Haute Couture, whom I knew well: I had provided him with fabric during the time of great shortage. Lelong couldn’t suggest anyone. I turned to Henri Fayol, my general director. He inquired and proposed someone from Lelong, a young designer with a good reputation, Christian Dior. I objected to Fayol that this young man certainly wouldn’t want to leave Lelong for Philippe et Gaston. Fayol insisted. I agreed to meet him.”"

"Dior came from Granville. Born into a family of Norman industrialists, he was the successful but ordinary product of the wise education through which the bourgeoisie offered their offspring a comfortable, uneventful existence. But it happened that young Christian cultivated dreams sheltered from family censorship, which soothsayers, fortune tellers, and other tarot explorers he consulted attentively worked to clarify. In the memoirs he published in his maturity[1](private://read/01jjdy9maqdsy9c2bv37rfja01/#bookmark1), Christian Dior recounted this prediction once made to him by a fortune teller: “You will find yourself without money, but women will be beneficial to you, and it is through them that you will succeed. You will make great profits from them and will be obliged to make many crossings.”"

"Dior said: “Beyond all the frills, only the numbers judge and speak.” The numbers indeed confirm beyond all expectations the success achieved with the press and world opinion. In fifteen days the anticipated revenue for the year has already been achieved. It reaches one hundred and thirty million by the end of this first year. The average price of a dress was then 25,000 francs. Even before the opening of the house, another granvillais friend of Christian Dior, Serge Heftler-Louiche (the house is decidedly a Norman stronghold!), proposed to him to create the company “Parfums Christian Dior [3](private://read/01jjdy9maqdsy9c2bv37rfja01/#bookmark8).” It was founded on March 4, 1947, and the growth of its revenue, which started like a rocket, would be as vertiginous as that of the parent company."

"The first collection was released in New York in November 1948, manufactured by an American “licensee” from sketches by the Parisian master. The house “Christian Dior-New York [4](private://read/01jjdy9maqdsy9c2bv37rfja01/#bookmark9)” was created the same year, followed in 1949 by “Christian Dior-Parfums-New York.” In 1955 the London boutique opened, and very quickly others sprang up around the world."

"The events will suddenly greatly increase the role of the sponsor. On October 23, 1957, Christian Dior suddenly dies, struck down by a heart attack, during a treatment he was undergoing in Montecatini. Dior’s tragedy was his gluttony: he couldn’t resist a cake or dessert. “Boss, you’re too fat,” he heard every day. But the slimming diets he strained to follow imposed very tough physiological challenges on him. Several times, he had fainted. His disappearance creates a huge shock in the fashion world—Dior, before being admired, was very loved—and raises a concerning question about the survival of the company. In the fashion world, few houses have managed to overcome the loss of their creator, and there is no shortage of examples since Paquin, Rochas, Piguet, Relong, of survivals that couldn’t maintain their brilliance after the disappearance of such talents."

"⁠But that is not all: at the forefront of what will allow haute couture to become an industry, Christian Dior designed the very first ready-to-wear line in the history of world fashion.⁠"

"“With the sudden eloquence of the shy.” Christian Dior begins by explaining that “his desire was not to resurrect an old house but to create one with his name, in a neighborhood of his choice, where everything would be new” … The house of his dreams “would be very small, very closed, with few workshops; they would work there according to the traditions of the best tailoring intended for a clientele of truly elegant women.” He also explains that he “would only make seemingly simple models, but with very elaborate craftsmanship.” Furthermore and above all, he speaks of the foreign markets lost during the war and says that to reconquer them, we must “return to the tradition of great luxury of French couture.” When, out of breath and surprised by his own boldness, Dior falls silent, he fears greatly that his interlocutor found him a bit presumptuous. Yet…: “I listened,” Boussac told me, “during our conversation that lasted nearly an hour, to Christian Dior analyzing haute couture, describing to me how he conceived his profession, everything that had fascinated him, how he saw the evolution of couture worldwide. Before accompanying him out, I told him that his project was quite different from mine, that it might be ambitious but that after all, his point of view was interesting and needed reflection. After Christian Dior’s departure, Henri Fayol came into my office and immediately asked me: “— Are you considering taking Christian Dior? What impression did he make on you? “— I’m not taking him for the Philippe and Gaston house. “— Why? replied Fayol, surprised, almost worried. “Because I believe he is not made to take over a small house. He needs to create under his own name. So, I have to choose: do I want to create only businesses that bear my name, or does this boy have enough talent for us to consider it? I feel he deserves this chance."

"Françoise Giroud wrote: “Unknown on February 12, Christian Dior, on February 13, was famous worldwide.” The magazine Elle adds: from America, the corolla dress returns with a name that would make the new designer’s fortune, the “new look.” A bomb just exploded on Avenue Montaigne. Immediately, a wave of madness and enthusiasm stirs a crowd not only of journalists and buyers but also of curious onlookers from everywhere who need to be seated even on the steps and kept from clinging to the balconies."

"Everything was about to change at the corner of rue Saint-Florentin and rue Saint-Honoré. The director of Philippe et Gaston, Henri Vigoureux, was heading towards rue Royale and “ran into” his old friend from Granville: Christian Dior. Reunion after years, effusions, embraces. And suddenly, Henri Vigoureux exclaims: — The sky puts you in my path! Marcel Boussac, the owner of Philippe et Gaston, is looking for a designer capable of breathing new life into the old house he wants to revive. Do you know anyone? Christian Dior thinks. At first glance, no, he doesn’t consider anyone: — I don’t see the rare bird who could fulfill such a perilous task."

"“— Are you considering taking Christian Dior? What impression did he make on you? “— I’m not taking him for the Philippe and Gaston house. “— Why? replied Fayol, surprised, almost worried. “Because I believe he is not made to take over a small house. He needs to create under his own name. So, I have to choose: do I want to create only businesses that bear my name, or does this boy have enough talent for us to consider it? I feel he deserves this chance."

"And finally Dior strikes a very sensitive chord in him: this business and money broker is fascinated by creation. Many signs indicate that he aspires to create himself: Jacques Rouet testifies to this a little further on. It is certain that Marcel Boussac feels creation as something sacred, a mystery that overflows the simple know-how recipes, and even the considerable powers he attributes to the meticulous pursuit of perfection. Perhaps he knows that Beauty is not of the same essence as mediocrity, is not merely improved mediocrity. The total freedom that the autocrat respects in Christian Dior finds its explanation here."

"Boussac recalls: “Everything had been prepared in the utmost secrecy, and the day before the first presentation of the collection, I returned home in the evening to Neuilly and saw in the entrance a bouquet of remarkable composition made of white and black orchids. It had been sent by Christian Dior. I had never seen a bouquet so beautiful. I went up to Mrs. Boussac’s apartment and said to her, ‘Don’t worry about tomorrow, there is not a florist in the world capable of making a bouquet as beautiful as the one I just saw. From now on, I am sure it will be an immense success.’”"