TWO FOR THE ROAD: Dior will unveil its men’s pre-fall collection in Hong Kong next year, signaling parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s confidence in the growth outlook for the historic luxury hub.
After his spectacular show in front of the pyramids of Giza in December, globe-trotting designer Kim Jones will bring the traveling collection to Hong Kong in the first half of 2024, Dior said in a statement shared exclusively with WWD. It did not provide further details of the show date or location.
“After Tokyo, Miami, London, Los Angeles and Cairo, this destination once again celebrates the artistic director’s passion for travel and world cultures — so dear to Monsieur Dior,” the house said.
The son of a hydrogeologist, Jones spent his childhood years on the African continent and continues to travel the globe to gather inspiration and see rare and exotic animals in their natural habitat. Founder Christian Dior was also known for his international outlook, establishing global subsidiaries shortly after launching his house in 1947.
The event will mark Dior’s return to Hong Kong after a women’s haute couture show in 2014 and a men’s display in 2016. Present in Hong Kong since 1980, the French fashion house has 11 boutiques there, of which six carry its menswear line.
Dior’s announcement comes just days before Louis Vuitton, another marquee label under the LVMH banner, stages its first pre-fall men’s show in Hong Kong.
Pharrell Williams, creative director of menswear at Vuitton, is set to unveil his collection on Thursday in a harborside venue belonging to K11 Musea, the luxury lifestyle complex founded by entrepreneur Adrian Cheng’s New World Development.
Speaking after LVMH reported a slowdown in growth in the third quarter, Rodolphe Ozun, the group’s director of financial communications, said Hong Kong and Macau bucked the trend with “a very strong increase in store traffic and sales.”
Hong Kong is emerging from a challenging period, with antigovernment protests in 2019 followed by protracted border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, strangling tourism flows. As a result, many luxury brands closed stores in the special administrative region in favor of opening new outlets in mainland China.
Hong Kong’s retail sales in the first nine months of 2023 rose 18.6 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the Census and Statistics Department. It quoted a government spokesman as saying that the retail sector should continue to benefit from the ongoing recovery of inbound tourism.