Brand
The Dior company was established in 1946 by Christian Dior, a French fashion designer. The brand’s trademark strategy is to sell Dior clothing and shoes only in official stores. Maria Grazia Chiuri joined the brand in 2016 as creative director, becoming the first woman to hold that position in the brand’s history.
Designer
Maria Grazia Chiuri is a fashion designer from Italy. She worked with Fendi and Valentino before joining Dior in 2016. While working at Fendi, she was part of the creative team that designed the famous Baguette Bag, which earned her a considerable reputation in the fashion industry. During her career at Valentino, Chiuri also designed several highly successful collections. Her design work is inspired heavily by feminism, and she promotes various artists by collaborating with them on new collections.
Materials
The collection uses linen, cotton, viscose, polyester, leather, denim, wool, silk, and other materials not listed in the description. The brand still uses fur, leather, wool, and exotic animal skins, making Dior’s clothing and shoes not vegan. The brand primarily uses recycled materials for its packaging, and Dior Laboratories claims to be sustainable and to focus on environmental sustainability. By international standards, the brand provides sizes from XS (34) to 3XL (46). Dior’s shoes and ready-to-wear collections are manufactured in France and Italy, while its haute couture collections are made exclusively in Paris.
Types
- School uniforms
- Basics
- Knitwear
- Skirts
- Leather coats
- Leather boots
- Outerwear
- Loungewear
Sustainability
Dior has a dedicated Dream in Green program to provide sustainable solutions for the creation of clothing and shoes. The brand strives to protect natural resources, from cotton to silk, wool to cashmere, thanks to eco-design, creative circularity, and innovations in high-quality textile recycling. Dior has implemented policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, provide recyclable, environmentally friendly packaging, and promote zero waste by repairing and recycling clothes. Still, the brand actively uses animal sources for its collections, especially exotic animals.
Design for Longevity
Dior promotes the longevity of its goods, and the Pre-Fall 2022 collection is no exception. Much attention is paid to eco-design in packaging at Christian Dior. The main goal is to reduce paper consumption and organize recycling and reuse without losing a sense of luxury for any products.
There have been changes in the brand boutiques. Here, in line with the strategy of sustainable development, fully sustainable design is implemented across everything from furniture to electrical equipment. All the flagship stores, even the main one on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, use exclusively wooden furniture, flooring made in France, lighting that adjusts its intensity to outside light, a special type of thermal insulation, air conditioning systems, and screens with reduced power consumption.
Ethical Manufacturing Practices
Currently, the brand is strongly aligned with eco-manufacturing practices and policies and strives to reduce environmental damage. However, the brand should try to reduce, if not eliminate, the use of animal skin, fur, wool, and other animal parts in its manufacturing process, especially exotic animal products. Dior should also pay more attention to the recycling potential of their clothing and shoes, as the primary focus is on perfume and packaging manufacturing.
Source Materials and Supplies
The brand does not disclose information on how the materials and sources are supplied, only stating that the clothes and shoes are manufactured in France and Italy. The Fashion Revolution’s 2021 Fashion Transparency Index shows that Dior is less transparent about its manufacturing practices than most other brands. However, with Dior’s current focus on sustainability, it can be expected that the brand will strive towards eco-friendly initiatives.
Recommendations for Making the Practices More Sustainable
Dior’s major problem is that it uses animal parts to produce its goods, putting especially exotic animals at risk. I think this is the brand’s main area for improvement, as it already actively supports sustainable policies for perfume production.
Bibliography
Dior. “Dior Sustainability – News and Events – News & Défilés,” 2022.
Fashion Revolution. “Fashion Transparency Index 2021.” Issuu, 2021.
