“The Glory”, a Netflix original series led by Song Hye Kyo, features 14 luxury brand names, with Dior being the highlight.
14 luxury brand names, such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton, appeared in Netflix’s “The Glory”, differentiating the K-drama from other domestic works, which cannot directly expose trademarks under the Broadcasting Act. Among the many luxury brands that appear in “The Glory”, there is one that is said to be “particularly intense” to viewers, and it is none other than Dior.
Maximized femininity
The main villain of “The Glory”, Park Yeon Jin (Lim Ji Yeon), is the leader of a school bullies gang, who used violence against the main character Moon Dong Eun (Song Hye Kyo) when she was a high school student. In a scene of the grown-up Park Yeon Jin, she can be seen asking her husband, Ha Do Young (Jung Sung Il), the reason why he chose her to marry despite meeting 3 matchmaking partners. Regarding this question, Ha Do Young replied simply that Park Yeon Jin wore the least among the three, but all of her items are from Dior.
As the scene aired, internet fashion communities started to pose the question, “Why did Kim Eun Sook (screenwriter of “The Glory”) mention Dior, instead of undisputed top brands such as Hermes and Chanel?”
At the same time, many people suspected that Dior had sponsored the drama, but Dior themselves denied such speculations.
Regarding the decision to mention Dior, there is a hypothesis that Kim Eun Sook must have paid attention to Dior’s designs that maximize femininity, compared to say, Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
In particular, Dior is famous for mainly releasing skinny products that reveal the body curves, even in men’s clothings. Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton and Gucci often release trendy products in the style of street fashion.
Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, known as “the icon of modern fashion”, even lost 40 kg to wear a Dior Homme suit. Mrs. Kim Gun Hee, wife of President Yoon Seok Yeol, also drew attention last year when she continuously wore Dior jackets, shirts, and sneakers.
Due to these design characteristics, Dior is known as a brand that is difficult to find for sale even on resale platforms. “These features must have appealed to Ha Do Young, who pursues a clean and elegant aesthetic,” explained industry insiders.
Dior is considered the one of most prominent brands in recent years in Korea, which has the highest consumption of luxury goods per capita in the world, as reported by Bloomsberg. Sales of Dior Korea, which stayed at 63.7 billion won until 2017, reached 613.8 billion won last year, a nearly tenfold increase within 5 years.
This is not just a trend limited to Korea. Even overseas, Dior’s level has risen to the point where it is evaluated as “threatening Chanel”. According to investment bank (IB) Stifel, Dior’s sales increased by 113.7%, from 2.9 billion euros (3.871 trillion won) in 2018 to 6.2 billion euros (8.27 trillion won) in 2021. Meanwhile, Chanel sales increased by 40.5% from 11.1 billion USD (13.65 trillion won) to 15.6 billion USD (19.188 trillion won) during the same period.
Source: Hankyung
