Hengqiang, the powerhouse in the luxury fashion industry, has become the norm.
According to Miss Tweed, the growth potential, brand awareness and attractiveness of LVMH's cash cow Dior have surpassed Gucci, the core brand of Kering Group. Earlier reports estimated that Dior's sales have tripled in the past three years, and this year may approach 6 billion euros. According to this, some analysts predict that the growth data that Gucci will release will be far less than that of Dior.
In addition, according to the 2021 Top 50 Global Luxury Brand Value Rankings released by Brand Finance, although Gucci has become the most valuable luxury brand, its brand value has recorded a decline of 11.2%, while Dior has surged by 13.9%, rushing into the top ten, ranking 9th.
In the latest report released by Launchmetrics, Dior ranked the brand with the highest media influence value in the second quarter of this year. The MIV in the United States was 94.6 million US dollars, Europe was 250 million US dollars, and China rose 24% to 170 million US dollars. Within 48 hours of the opening of Paris Fashion Week, Dior held 5 events in one breath, attracting 270 million people's attention on social media, becoming one of the most popular luxury brands.
It is worth noting that Dior and Gucci are the two luxury brands with the most frequent marketing actions in recent years, but their situation in the market is completely different, and the reasons continue to arouse curiosity in the industry.
In order to celebrate the brand's 100th anniversary, Gucci has made great efforts this year. Since the "Aria-Fashion Aria" series released in April, it has successively created a series of joint travel plans. In addition to the century cooperation with Balenciage, there is also Gucci. Cadillac Seville x Hot Wheels, a Gucci Circolo pop-up store and the latest online concept store called "Vault".
A few days ago, Gucci released the news of its re-cooperation with COMME des GARÇONS on its Instagram limited-time dynamic. The Tote handbag of this cooperation series will be released on the Vault platform on October 15.
Alessandro Michele, Gucci's creative director, said that at the historical node of Gucci's 100th anniversary, he is more willing to maintain a new life through continuous interaction with the outside world, and freely incorporate everything into its self-contained aesthetic world, rather than the old-fashioned retrospective inventory. Gucci looks at and handles everything as a methodology, breaking the taboos and frameworks inherent in the industry.
However, after the Gucci show in April, there was no shortage of criticism that the mutual invasion of Gucci and Balenciaga was a low-level gimmick. They pointed out that the innovation of luxury brands is actually only mutual "joint names", which just proves the lack of the current industry. Twitter user @riacoseph commented that all this is just a superficial gimmick made by uninspired business groups to restore performance after the epidemic.
Gucci's "Gucci Classics" exhibition, which was opened to the public in the East Hall of Shanghai Exhibition Center from May 28 to August 1, was also controversial. Many visitors posted on social media that the exhibition did not show Gucci. 100 years of cultural and historical heritage and brand charm have become a place for Internet celebrities to take pictures and punch cards.
In view of the increasingly fast fashion industry, expanding the expression boundary of fashion and ensuring the richness of content output through art and trend culture has become the regular operation mode of fashion brands. Dior's actions in recent years are similar to Gucci's. The fact is that behind every step of Dior is the core DNA of the brand and the lifestyle it represents.
Take Dior's "Christian Dior, Designer of Dreams" exhibition held in Chengdu on July 25 this year as an example. Since the exhibition was held in Shanghai last year, in order to present a different viewing experience from Shanghai Station, Dior The set designer Nathalie Criniere was specially invited to design a new narrative scene.
Although the scale of the exhibition in Chengdu is not as good as that of Shanghai due to the venue, Dior has presented the 1947 Bar Jacket suit, the masterpieces of six successive designers, Miss Dior perfume and dresses, etc. DIOR's historical framework and unique culture.
You must know that for an exhibition that has already been held in Shanghai, Dior must do better in Chengdu to attract consumers, which greatly tests the brand's confidence. The opening of the exhibition coincided with the Chinese Qixi Festival. Dior decisively chose red as the exhibition theme, which echoed the brand's DIORAMOUR Qixi Festival series.
In other areas of the domestic market, Dior also showed its specific attention to the characteristics of the local market. In the post-epidemic era, the most popular holiday destination for Chinese consumers, the EDITION Hotel in Sanya opened a pop-up store for the Diorvieria resort series, welcoming them head-on. Target consumers, to achieve a high degree of fit between the local market and product series.
In terms of products, Dior's joint name is mainly divided into two tracks, one is led by women's clothing creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, who cooperates with craftsmen and artists from all over the world in the release show of each season series, and the other is led by men's clothing creative director Kim Jones led, the partners and works are more young pioneers.
The most notable of these is the Dior x Sacai menswear capsule collection launched by Kim Jones in July this year with Chitose Abe, founder of Japanese designer brand Sacai, covering T-shirts, coats, camera bags, saddle bags and off-the-shoulder backpacks. As well as berets and other products, it is regarded as one of the most high-profile joint cooperation in the industry this year, and consumers can buy it through the brand’s offline stores and official website next month.
Dior's collection of menswear in collaboration with artist Peter Doig was officially released in August. In addition to clothing, the collection also includes saddle bags, boots and B23 sneakers. Combining camouflage patterns co-designed with Peter Doig and Dior's classic jacquard craftsmanship, Kim Jones aims to redefine the male consumer's wardrobe. Next summer, Dior will also launch a collection with American hip-hop artist Travis Scott.
Some analysts pointed out that after creating the cooperation and joint series of artists such as Louis Vuitton and Supreme, Dior and Air Jordan, Dior and Sora Yamaji, etc., the Dior x Sacai that Kim Jones re-launched can still surprise the industry, reflecting his Excellent talent at this thing.
At the same time, Dior also turned its attention to the sports field, and recently opened its first ski-themed pop-up store Dior Alps in Japan. The store is located on the ground floor of the Hankyu Umeda Department Store, a high-end shopping mall in Osaka. It specializes in headwear and ski goggles, with lining padded jackets, ski pants, ski boots, and handbags. The pop-up store will also land in the Chinese market where the Winter Olympics are about to be held.
Previously, Dior recently established a partnership with Technogym, an Italian fitness equipment company, and will launch limited fitness equipment in January next year, including a connected treadmill, a multi-functional weightlifting bench, as well as accessories such as dumbbells and a fitness ball.
Obviously, from the perspective of vertical and horizontal analysis, Dior has overtaken Gucci by an overwhelming advantage, but Dior and Gucci are only a microcosm in the industry. The important signal sent is that consumers are becoming more and more shrewd and discerning. Gucci and Balenciaga Whether the century joint name is grandstanding or boldly subverting the rules, only time will tell.
Gucci's third-quarter revenue performance will be announced on October 19. The latest forecast given by Barclays analysts is an organic growth of 9%, and the organic growth of Kering Group's overall revenue may be 11%. The development of Gucci is less impressive, and it is only a matter of time before new acquisitions are made as the pressure mounts to continue to shed its over-reliance on Gucci.