Christian Dior sets up flagship at Cannes

Dior has found a new place of residence at number seven on Cannes' famous Boulevard de la Croisette.

Opening today, the boutique offers a world class view of the entry to the Palais de Festival right across the street, where the 69th edition of the festival will kickoff tonight, May 11.

The new venue is three times the size of Dior's old venue at 38. It stretches across three levels, and carries the brand's full range of women's wear, ready-to-wear, bags, shoes, accessories, high end and costume jewelry, leather goods made of exotic skins, and for the first time even men's wear.

Dior opens new flagship store on Cannes

“Dior Homme has seen a strong development in all markets. In our old boutique, which I remember opening more than 20 years ago, there was simply no room for it. But the times have changed,” said Dior's chief executive officer Sidney Toledano to WWD. “Husband and wife often come to shop together, and we cannot ask one or the other to run 50 meters down the road to another venue. We would lose them and besides, it’s not convenient, though stylistically we do keep the collections apart. Some brands choose to merge the two. At Dior, the man is very manly and the woman remains feminine.”

While Dior, like all LVMH owned companies, is mum about revealing their business figures, it is projected that the boutique will generate robust sales growth. Cannes boosts regular tourist traffic year round now, compared to twenty years ago when it was good for retail businesses during festival and peak tourist season.

The new flagship is just a part of Dior's plans for bigger expansion. The brand recently set up new venues in Beijing and Miami's Design District. A new London location is expected to open at the end of May to coincide with the cruise collection show. An Atlanta opening is scheduled for July, and Chicago and Japan flagships are set for 2017.

Image: Dior