STYLE SPOTLIGHT: DIOR SCANDAL 2024
If you know me then you know one of my favorite brands is Dior. Obviously this love came from my grandmothers and my mom and aunt and trickled down to me. From my heels, sneakers, beauty, and shoulder bags I always feel like a ‘classic, timeless and whimsical lady’. I also love that when I buy Dior my selections are understated and I can rock my saddle bag with my Dr. Martens etc. Individuality with craftsmanship at its finest. So when the Dior Scandal about unethical supply chain it rocked me. Read on to find out why!
Okay, so it’s taken me a couple weeks to write this because first I couldn’t believe it but second of what this signifies. So to summarize - Dior is in judicial administration for a year due to the fact that an Italian investigation found two “subcontractors” (Chinese owned) exploited workers.
Aka sweat shop.
Now, as a consumer who genuinely loves the history of Christian Dior (kept fashion alive during World War II) and the femininity (my personal love is the A-line).
First, as I stated my love began from my family. My earliest Dior product was the lip gloss in middle school and my platform silver stilettos I purchased for my Senior Prom. What I loved was the quality and the idea of you’re consciously investing for life (with those prices you need to TRULY love what you buy so you can wear it forever regardless of what’s ‘in fashion’.) The rhetoric told to us by the houses is that the price is contributed not only to the experience you have BUT also the ethical business practices.
The finding just blew that right out of the water! Now, I will say the quality on the new Dior bags seem less but the price keeps increasing. I last purchased a saddle bag in 2021 and wasn’t to impressed and so far I haven’t repeated as my older bags seem to have more weight and quality. Then add recently customer service where it seems like you have to “prove” that you belong at Dior and that you will purchase. When before it was always welcoming and friendly. Yes, Gen Zers have been saying this on social media for awhile but it wasn’t until the allegations that I saw 2 things - greed is never ending and hypocrisy is real.
It’s hypocrisy because the houses sell that you’re doing good and supporting fair trade and really tugging on the heart strings (mine). So to find out that their practices are anything but ethical it goes into the question, Why? Houses attempt to make people feel inadequate buying items on the resell market or even renting programs. In all honesty, those are both the best economical option AND safest. The money you spend goes to a small business and it truly is a middle finger to the Houses that trade on the hyprocisy. Now you don’t have to get designer but if there is a style from Dior you like there is nothing wrong with purchasing from a reseller.
Greed! This Dior scandal has made so many people open their eyes. Even South Korea! South Korea is actually the largest buying power of Dior but the recent allegations have seen them slowing on the Dior purchase (no-one likes to be sold hypocrisy). What’s even crazier is that the South Korean First Lady is under scrutiny for breaking South Korea’s anti-graft law. I’m not saying the Houses can’t make money, that’s business 101 there needs to be some ROI but to have that type of profit while sacrificing humans is just deplorable. To pay $57 but charge consumers $2850 plus is simple greed.
2024 has been a unique year so far. I definitely didn’t see this Dior scandal happening. It is saddening and sick that they sell ethics but employ unethical practices. I still love my Dior pieces and maybe if there is a bag I truly feel explemifies the history of Dior I would purchase.
Ultimately, this taught me that even my knack for consumerism is the ultimate catalyst for Dior’s practice. That is sobering.
