Country: France

French luxury goods company Christian Dior has announced its 2016 full-year report in which it enjoyed a boost of 5 per cent in its sales.

In the reporting period, Christian Dior recorded revenue of Euros 39.5 billion, up 5 per cent on actual exchange rates and 6 per cent on constant structure and exchange rates. Profit from recurring operations stood at Euros 7.3 billion, up 6 per cent.

Christian Dior Couture recorded an increase of 3 per cent in revenue to Euros 1,936 million. Retail sales also zoomed up 3 per cent at actual exchange rates, and profit from recurring operations was totalled Euros 252 million, up 5 per cent from the previous year.

Also Read – Christian Dior’s revenue on the rise

Owned by LVMH, Christian Dior designs and retails ready-to-wear, leather goods, fashion accessories, footwear, jewellery, etc. While the Christian Dior label remains principally for women’s offerings, the company also operates the Dior Homme division for men and the Baby Dior label for children’s wear.

Targeting larger catchment areas, the French fashion accessories and leather goods retailer MOA has decided to open 50 new stores across Europe. “We are now looking at areas with 35,000-plus inhabitants only,” informed Cyril Tarica, Founder and CEO of MOA, in which the Etam Group is a minority shareholder.

The retailer is currently operating 165 branded stores internationally. It recently opened two stores in Belgium’s capital, Brussels, which eventually turned out to be successful for MOA to plan another two in March, one in Brussels and one in Charleroi. The brand also reached to Russia in 2016 by opening 8 stores with a local master franchisor, while entry into Bulgaria is on the cards for 2017.

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MOA generated revenue of € 29 million, equivalent to a € 50 million sales volume, and to a 20 per cent growth over 2015, in latest fiscal.

Chloé, a French fashion house, has confirmed that its Creative Director Clare Waight Keller will leave the brand after six years. The womenswear collection that she will present in Paris on 2nd March, 2017 will be her last.

According to a release issued by the fashion label, Clare’s departure is a mutual decision between her and the management led by Geoffroy de La Bourdonnaye, Chief Executive Officer of Chloé, who hired the British designer in May 2011 following the leaving of Hannah MacGibbon.

“After six extraordinary years at Chloé, I would like to thank Geoffroy and all my colleagues for their enormous efforts over the past years. Working for this Maison has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Chloé is a brand with values close to my heart and I have truly enjoyed working with some of the best talents in the industry,” Keller said.

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If rumours are anything to go by, then Natacha Ramsay-Levi is presumably going to succeed Waight Keller. She worked first at Balenciaga and then at Louis Vuitton, where she is currently In Charge of Design.

However, the information is yet to be confirmed by the fashion house.

European multinational luxury goods conglomerate LVMH recorded an unexpected revenue and profit in 2016 due to higher sales in the United States and Europe,coupled with a pick-up in demand in Asia region as well. It has recorded revenue of Euros 7.03 billion (Pounds 6 billion) in 2016, registering an increase of 6 per cent over last year. This news has come as breather for luxury industry after setback amid terror attacks in Europe, a crackdown on corruption in China and political uncertainty in the US.

Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of the fashion retailer, who recently met US President Donald Trump and discussed company’s expansion in US, thought the first half of 2017 should be “relatively easy” for the Group, but reportedly warned that tougher year-ago comparisons and uncertainties ranging from the impact of Brexit to the new Trump administration could make the second-half “more difficult”.

Also Read – LVMH CEO meets Donald Trump, confirms US expansion

The Group employs over 83,000 people and operates about 2,400 stores worldwide is prepared to continue growth in 2017 also. LVMH’s rivals in the luxury industry, such as Cartier owner Richemont and British luxury brand Burberry have also signalled better demand in mainland China and improving tourist spending in the last part of the year. 2017 is expected to be a good year for luxury goods sector.

France, ranked as the fifth biggest e-commerce market worldwide, is likely to note a rise of 11 per cent in online retail sales in 2017. According to a report, online retail sales in France expected to reach €80 billion this year. Availability of large number of online vendors has made people turn towards online shopping in the country. This has been revealed by the French E-Commerce Federation (Fevad).

French people spent a total of Euros 72 billion in doing online shopping in 2016 including Christmas sales of Euros 14 billion. In 2015, e-commerce represented an estimated 7 per cent of retail sales in France.

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The report claimed that there were on average 28 online transactions per year per buyer in 2016, a 21 per cent year-on-year rise. There were over 200,000 e-commerce websites in France, a year-on-year increase of 12 per cent from 2015.