Dior to revamp iconic Saddle Bag, but Chinese advertising by influencer Elle Lee proves rather clumsy

The first news is that Christian Dior has revamped its iconic Saddle Bag. The new variation is “bigger and more solid than the previous one: it is also variously coloured, precious and embellished with fringes, denim and beadwork”. The bad news comes from Chinese advertising though. In fact, both the bag and the fashion brand slipped on classic banana peel, namely trend influencers, who are very popular among luxury businesses when it comes to advertise a new product. As we said, Dior has decided to revamp its Saddle Bag (first created in 1999) as a luxury accessory for next winter season (2018/2019). Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director of the fashion house (we quoted her own words at the beginning), illustrated the decision by saying: “I think that such iconic bag, made by Christian Dior, is the perfect accessory customers need to tackle struggling daily life – as reported by luukmagazine.com -. You have to wear your Saddle Bag the same way you wear a shirt or a jacket; thanks to its long shoulder strap it is very handy, and you will almost forget you hold it. You can put in this bag all you need every day”. Its success is granted. The problem is that Elle Lee, an influencer headquartered in Hong Kong (one of the several influencers hired by the French fashion house), on July 20 posted a video on Weibo, Dior China’s official account, triggering off very negative reactions and responses of Chinese web users. Here are some of these comments: “This video deeply hits Saddle Bag’s cult appeal”; “Are Dior serious? The video is very kitsch and presents the bag as a cheap one”; “Looks like they are giving us instructions on discounts and coupons to buy the bag at promotional sale prices”. A massive number of “fashion haters” stood up against it by posting over 7,400 negative comments, subsequently shared by over 11,000 followers. This huge banana peel urged Dior, contacted by Jing Daily portal, to distance themselves (partially though?) from the marketing operation. They announced “the video does not pertain to Saddle Bag Chinese official advertising campaign, but it simply shows the way influencer Elle Lee is presenting the bag”. This is the moral of the story: trust in influencers, but check what they are up to, before you share it.