DIOR, ON SECOND THOUGHT: It seems Dior had a change of heart over its compensation demands following a Valentino couture show in Rome on July 8 that was said to crimp retail business.
According to sources, Dior is asking Valentino to disregard a previous letter demanding financial compensation of 100,000 euros, citing “cordial relations” between the two luxury houses and “mutual respect.”
As reported, Dior had claimed Valentino’s couture show on the Spanish Steps and nearby streets caused disruption to its boutique in the Italian capital.
In a letter sent to Valentino on the night of the show by the retail manager of Christian Dior Italia and seen by WWD, the French brand requested to be compensated for lost revenues in the store. This is located on the corner of Via Condotti and facing the Spanish Steps, where onlookers gathered to catch a glimpse of the display. Dior demanded the payment be made in 15 days from the date of the letter.
According to Dior, Valentino, which had been requesting permits to stage the event in such a key location in the city from the police and several authorities for months, in its own letter sent out to retailers on June 27 “guaranteed regular foot traffic to the stores.” But Dior said this was “not reflected in any way” by the situation on the evening of the show, according to its initial letter.
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Dior stated that access to its boutique was “hampered” and customers were “refused access and blocked at the barriers,” so that the store “remained empty and could not operate from the early hours of the afternoon,” a fact that Dior alleged was “amplified” by the event being scheduled on a Friday, “a day when surely proceeds are [significant].”
In the first letter, Dior warned that if the amount was not paid by Valentino in two weeks, the company would “adopt all the necessary measures to protect its rights.”
It is not known what precipitated the backpedaling of Dior’s demands, which were met with snarky remarks and scoffing on social media, viewed by many users as “petty” also given the size of the brand, part of the largest luxury group in the world.