The LVMH fashion house’s new CEO says the brand will have to combine digital transparency and an authentic voice with a strong e-commerce experience as it moves into China.

This is according to CEO, Pietro Beccari, a veteran of LVMH who ascended to Dior’s top position nine months ago, speaking to the South China Morning Post.

“You have to be ambitious and have the courage to do things that haven’t been done before, which has always been very important to me. I will always base my philosophy at Dior on these elements that are part of the brand’s DNA”, he told the paper. He is in Japan for the launch of Dior’s menswear pre-autumn collection in Japan.

Unlike womenswear, menswear is not known for its roaming shows, but he believes it is a good thing for the brand. “We’re once again the first ones to do something.” But he cautions that anything this new requires authenticity to the brand with a healthy dose of respect for the local culture.

“Authenticity is the most important thing, especially nowadays. With Instagram and the internet you need total transparency.”

The company has just hired a digital officer tasked with growing Dior’s online presence, having poached his latest hire from the online retailer My Theresa. At the same time, he emphasised the increasing globalisation of tastes that fashion houses such as his must appeal to.

“Authenticity is very important,” he explained. “Dior has always been in love with China and we’ve reached out to the market with exhibitions and all kinds of projects. We’ve seen the development of this extraordinary country that’s eager to advance and has a very strong young population who study abroad and travel around the world.

“These young consumers, especially from China, stimulate us to do better and better and to come up with new ideas and do new things to try to reach them, not only us but also our competitors, who are also very strong and make us want to do more.

“They’re very challenging because they don’t have preconceived notions and are less loyal to brands. They just buy what they like and it’s really about the products that speak to them.”

Having said that, however, Beccari stresses that the brand has no intention of doing China-specific collections. “We only do what’s right for Dior,” he said.

Dior has undertaken some experimentation with China-specific marketing strategies. In November, Christian Dior beauty became the first luxury brand to sell product through a WeChat livestream, according to Jing Daily.

Sourced from SCMP.com, Jing Daily; additional content by WARC staff