Top change at Dior

From October 1st, the current role of president of Christian Dior Inc. by Patricia Malone, will be taken over by Pamela Baxter, President of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton's Perfume and Cosmetics Group. Within 17 months, this is the second top change of the U.S. division of Christian Dior Couture. Dior stated, "The move reflects Dior's appreciation of Pamela Baxter's success in managing the North American perfumes and cosmetics business and it looks forward to her leadership in these expanded responsibilities." Less then two years ago, Malone replaced Marla Sabo when Dior’s U.S. sales were going down. Malone will pursue other opportunities and Dior thanked her for her contributions to its North American activities, aldus Dior’s statement.

Baxter has already been working with Dior, being the U.S. head of LVMH's perfume and cosmetics division, which include Christian Dior Perfumes, Guerlain and Parfums Givenchy. She came on board in 2003, when she was the president of Lauder's Specialty Brands Group. Dior’s North American beauty business needed fresh input and by working closely with Dior’s distribution and focussing on the brand’s heritage, she managed to revive Dior’s market place.

According to Baxter, “Dior is a fashion house, it has many facets with categories such as accessories, shoes, jewellery, cosmetics and perfume. It's a whole image-driven business that appeals to a woman and she buys into the whole Dior look," Baxter said. "This gives us an opportunity to align the brand and image from top to bottom."

In the first half of this year, Christian Dior Couture’s sales went up with 12% to 368 million Euros and operating gains ascended to 28 million Euros compared to 8 million Euros in 2006. This season and previous season, Dior already tried to work on its U.S. profile. The brand hosted catwalk shows in New York to present it’s new collections to press and buyers.