Dior Finally Ends Its E-Commerce Embargo

As one of the final giant luxury fashion houses to lift the embargo on the e-commerce front, Dior has taken an interesting strategy with dealings. Rather than committing entirely to the e-commerce strategy with brand-wide implementation, the label has instead decided to take things slow with a holiday pop-up shoe shop presented in tandem with Bergdorf Goodman. As Pamela Baxter, president of Christian Dior Couture, shares, “There is no e-commerce site in North America for Dior. The whole purpose and goal of this was to really leverage our partnership with Bergdorf and push the client base that they have that we don’t have. It’s really a win-win for everyone.” The sale goes live today on Bergdorf’s website, and will run through to December 31 with a selection of 14 shoe styles from the 2016 cruise collection. Retail will range from $830 USD for flats up to $1,140 USD for the highly coveted Dior Fusion sneaker. You can read below what Baxter has to say regarding why Dior has opted out of e-commerce until now:

The retail experience and relationship building between our expert sales associates and our clients is really important to us. To be quite frank, we don’t know how that relationship would build online. I have got people in the stores who know exactly who their client is. We have programs in stores for initiating and engaging new clients. We do that really well. When we find that experiential relationship connection and how to do that online, we’ll jump in with both feet. Right now, we’re a very high-end luxury brand, our price points are very high and that relationship experience is our top strategic priority.