The luxury label's creations on display at the new La Galerie Dior. Reuters
The luxury label's creations on display at the new La Galerie Dior. Reuters
The luxury label's creations on display at the new La Galerie Dior. Reuters
The luxury label's creations on display at the new La Galerie Dior. Reuters

Dior reopens historic Paris flagship store and launches a new museum after renovation


Selina Denman
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When Christian Dior first came across the town house at 30 Avenue Montaigne, he immediately decided that it needed to be the home of his fledgling couture label. He admired its “reduced size and classic without overwhelming pedigree”, and set about making it his.

At 9am on December 16, 1946, he officially launched his new space. Within seven years, it had been extended to occupy five floors and housed 28 workshops and 1,000 employees.

La Galerie Dior is located at the original address of Christian Dior's first store. Reuters
La Galerie Dior is located at the original address of Christian Dior's first store. Reuters

This address continued to be the Dior flagship until two years ago, when it was closed for an extensive revamp. It will reopen its doors on Sunday.

The newly expanded complex now stretches over 10,000 square metres, with cafes, gardens, a restaurant and a private apartment for overnight visits from VIP clients. This is in addition to numerous floors of retail space stocked with the label’s clothing, accessories, tableware and make-up collections.

Located next to the store is a new museum, La Galerie Dior, which traces the label's history from the 1940s. It includes some of Christian Dior’s earliest creations, his desk and an original fitting room packed with hats, gloves and jewellery.

This is the latest in a series of significant real estate investments undertaken by luxury conglomerate LVMH, Dior’s owner, in the French capital. These include two hotels, the much-anticipated Cheval Blanc and Bulgari Hotel.

Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community

• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style

“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.

Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term. 

From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”

• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International

"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed.  Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."

• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."

• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com

"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.

His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.

Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."

• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher

"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen.  He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”

• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."

Updated: March 05, 2022, 12:43 PM