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Bloomberg
Excitement for the return of Dior’s equestrian-inspired Saddle bag line—which dominated the “it bag†era of the early 2000s alongside Balenciaga’s “Lariat†and the Fendi “Baguette†before being discontinued—has been bubbling up since designer Maria Grazia Chiuri put them in her runway show in February.
Trendsetting models Bella Hadid and Elsa Hosk were soon spotted carrying vintage Saddle bags, driving up demand on luxury resale sites like Vestiaire Collective.
Just as Europe’s other fashion houses were winding down for their summer recess, Dior unleashed the bags in a marketing blitzkrieg that was hard to miss: Scores of Instagram influencers from around the world posted images modeling the $2,000-plus bags on the same day that Dior released its own campaigns.
Vogue and Marie Claire published dreamy videos from Dior’s ateliers of the bags being hammered into shape on wooden molds. On the Chinese social network Weibo, Dior took a more literal approach, posting a clip of Hong Kong fashion star Elle Lee posing as an elated client in front of a shop mirror. Some of the Instagrammers acknowledged that they’d been gifted the bags using hashtags like #SuppliedByDior.
Making a splash with new product launches is becoming more important and more challenging for luxury brands as social networks become more saturated with fashion images than ever.
For LVMH, whose brands including Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Celine are among the world’s most established, new product launches are essential to keep up growth—and to maintain their lead on fast-growing challengers like Kering’s revamped Gucci and Balenciaga divisions.