Dior boss says replacing Raf is a ‘work in progress’

On October 22nd last year, Christian Dior announced that Raf Simons would be stepping down as creative director of the house. It was an announcement that sent reverberations around the industry. Naturally, people were quick to ask who would be replacing him but, six months later, we’re no closer to getting an answer.

Yesterday, speaking at a preview for Dior's flagship store on New Bond Street, the house’s chief executive Sidney Toledano said that the process of appointing a new creative director is still underway. “(It is a) work in progress, work in progress and we’re giving it a little bit of time,” he told Reuters. “It’s an important position.”

He also stressed that the lack of a creative director has done nothing to affect sales, saying, “The UK market in London business for us is doing very well, we still have double digit growth.” He did, however, add that last year’s Paris attacks had hurt tourism and sales in France.

As for the creative side of things, it’s business as usual, as was clear from the house’s Cruise 2017 show staged at Blenheim Palace on Tuesday. Designed by a team led by Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux, the collection represented (in Ruffieux’s words) a “clash of English eccentricity and French elegance,” nodding to the nation’s “taste for travel” during the post-War period.

As for Simons, the Belgian designer is rumoured to be taking over Calvin Klein which recently unified all of its brands under one creative vision. Responding to the rumours, the label has simply said that “an announcement will be made in due course.”