Somewhere in the voluminous pages of Anne of Carversville, I wrote that Dior’s media-saturated Sun King Jonathan Anderson had better not knock off Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel flower puff earrings.

I had no doubt in my highly-intelligent woman’s brain that Anderson would be that brazen. He was; this is how Sun Kings operate.

The world today is populated with primarily two visions of the world’s most powerful men: those who believe their power knows no limits except to service their own needs; and those who use their power responsibly for the benefit of humanity and Mother Earth.

Group 1 fancies that they are blessed with a divine-right intellect, especially when a throng of admirers support the coronation. You can count on the Dior groupies not to question anything the Sun King does. Not-one-thing.

Group 2 respects male brilliance but also reads the room. In the best scenario, they are New Humanism men like Matthieu Blazy and Pharrell Williams. If nothing else, they are men living in a time and place where they know we ladies can be quite a handful — even if it means turning against prominent women who are turning on us.

We’re good with Dior clarifications as a life lesson. Today the cards are officially on the table, as far as I’m concerned.

A tiny problem in life can easily reveal much bigger challenges. The true story from a trusted source is far more razor-sharp than a made-up one from an adoring fan. I found the glitch over the Jonathan tag on System Magazine making my case this morning.

Bending over backwards to be fair, I sought to read Suzy Q’s recommended System Magazine story with Anderson and friends before writing this post. Wouldn’t you think someone would check out such an important link before rounding up important voices like Suzy Q’s to make Anderson’s case for Dior.

The Emotional Exhaustion of a Devoted Chiuri Supporter Dealing with the New Dior

As I battle my way though Jonathan Anderson’s ‘culture and art’ — the word Dior CEO Delphine Arnault uses to describe her Sun King’s new Dior book totes — I’ve been impacted deeply.

Events left in the dead dirt pile for decades were thrown right at me with Anderson’s Sun King debut as creative director of the New Dior. Note that I was very supportive of this move and equally complimentary about Anderson at Loewe.

I spent five seconds worrying that Chiuri was thrown to the curb for good. I knew she was going to Fendi, and I actually read Anderson’s final Loewe campaign with Lilith in the corner as a bread crumb. I told everyone to relax. Seriously, I’ll slide it in here.

Until Jonathan Anderson opened his Dior show, asking me if I dared to enter the New Dior, Anne was chill.

What a change of heart I’ve had about Jonathan Anderson since then. Seeing the Clockwork Orange tote 10 days ago sent me over the top with total disgust. I don’t care one little bit how I appear with this action today.

Having promoted ‘Dracula’ as high art at both Loewe and now Dior, Anderson is very attached to its message. And that message is retrograde conservative, no matter what he says.

Let’s Talk China

The list of what major luxury brands will thrive in China and which ones won’t is directly tied to their understanding and appreciation of China’s culture and shared aspirations among its people. China is developing its own luxury core of brands and designers to compete at home in China and also on the world stage.

Hands down, Anderson will get Dior kicked out of China if he’s not careful. Individual egos are not celebrated in China and may already be causing issues. I know it’s really difficult for the Sun King to come to grips with this reality, but it is a legitimate word of caution.

Anderson himself has referred to the perception that he is arrogant in his goal of being the top living designer in the world. Anne agrees but says uber arrogant.

Anne of Carversville is open to read in China, which is a rare event I am told. Besides passing China’s own security review that surely confirms my favored-person status as a feminist woman with great respect for China’s president Xi Jinping, I have a sterling business record in his great nation. Nor am I trying to tell him how to run it.

I’m not a rabble rouser, and I am influential with both liberal and conservative women. They appreciate my fearless approach to commentary and analysis, with few obligations to the fashion industry. When I say conservative, I mean George Bush Republicans, not MAGA.

On the topic of values in China, I warned Gucci several times to change course on its sissy boy marketing in China. “Just tone it down”, I advised, because China was clear also regarding their own objectives and demands about manliness. I’m quite certain that my willingness to take a more moderate position defending the government’s position with Gucci was appreciated. That position had nothing to do with my enormous respect for Alessandro Michele, who also adds so much positive thought to fashion philosophy.

My low-status on social media also makes me extra desirable as a trusted person to be fair and factual in telling China’s story. I’m not dialing for clickbait online, as Xi moves forward to take his nation’s rightful place in the world. And what an ancient story it is.

The ‘Artful’ Nature of Dior Book Totes Maybe Be Overstated

Many Chinese women are furious with Dior over the loss of personalization on the new book totes. And multiples of Anderson’s book totes are already a problem with price stability on resale platforms. That information is not hearsay; I’ve seen it.

Delphine Arnault has convinced herself that the totes are ‘art and culture’ reflecting New Dior style. It’s true that many of the titles do occupy an informal niche of books status in China. The Ministry of Culture encourages luxury shoppers to examine how decadent and individually self-absorbed Western culture really is, based on these books. I am not prepared to make the argument that they are wrong; and as Dior swings right. And I do understand that China could flip the switch and say that if this is Dior’s view of women as revealed in books 100+ years old, why should they care about women’s rights. Dior doesn’t/ These texts are pretty jarring.

Even if I didn’t have so much global business experience, I know that Clockwork Orange is a problem in America. With all the gun violence in our country and growing misogyny against women, Clockwork Orange is in the top spot of banned books in America. While I don’t support book banning, the fears of parents that kids are affected by this extraordinarily negative view of women in ‘Clockwork Orange’ are justified.

From what I know in the manosphere, many of those guys might lean into ‘Clockwork Orange’ and with pleasure.

I was so shaken the night I discovered the Clockwork Orange tote, that I asked Gemini to comment on snuff films from that era.

Always the diplomat G explained that there were most likely no snuff films at all in real life America in the 1970s. They were hoaxes.

I felt better hearing that response and was ready to move on, but then I asked “What about AI films? Are mostly women dying in virtual snuff films, inspired by books like ‘Clockwork Orange? Is that a reality?”

Gemini responded, almost sighing: “Yes, it’s a huge problem, Anne. A very bad one.” Then it rolled out all the sordid facts and references. Anderson has zero empathy for what it’s like to be a woman and be described in such filthy and disgusting language as we are in the books that inspire his ‘art totes’.

After Chiuri, it’s like being stabbed in the back. Like I’ve said, Chanel is focused on creating some joy in all this despair. I strongly prefer the Blazy vision of a good life even if its only purpose is exhibit some awareness of beauty and concern for others. Anderson’s nihilism only increases the pain and mockery of those who are suffering.

In 2022, Anne Signaled a Big Post-Feminism Change at Vogue France

Vogue France March 2022 and Laetitia Casta introduced us to a post-feminism world. That assertion can be read two ways, and I’m quite certain that Delphine Arnault and I are NOT on the same page in our interpretations.

Anne wrote in 2022:

Right Turn Coming:

Speaking of freedom, we are about to make a sharp right turn, as I read further into the Vogue France editor’s letter. Hang tight, here we go.

It was interesting to see Laetitia Casta go from wearing Maria Grazia Chiuri’s ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ shirt in 2017, to arguing that women are capable of the same kinds of maximum-intensity violence of men in Vogue France in 2022.

There’s a significant line between ‘capable of’ and committing that violence. All I know is that I wasn’t happy finding myself sandwiched between RT and Sputnik News on Casta’s Google Page 1 search results. I’m quite certain that I heard from the joke of an organization called the Russian NRA after my Vogue France post. At this point, Casta is a right-wing heroine.

Fast forward to tonight April 14, 2025 and we are getting financial information tonight about Dior’s first quarter performance.

2026 Financial Info Emerges with Clarity on Two Titans: Chanel and Dior

First Quarter Update: We are getting new financial info from both LVMH and also financial analysts data. The official earnings call is Tuesday, April14th, but Morgan Stanley, in particular, seems to have done a major deep dive into the facts of their own research, which they will be broadcasting more data on their findings.

Key points: 1] Dior is showing about a 6% increase first quarter. We must break it down, but all the new trinkets must be selling. This strategy is totally counter to Chanel’s but it is generating revenue. I am keeping it simple: Dior is moving right in what may be a very strategic and investor-friendly decision.

I am not opposed to values different than my own. That is the world of independent choice. However, if those decisions are sending women out the door — as Morgan Stanley claims — that should be acknowledged.

2] According to Morgan Stanley, Chanel is taking Dior’s fashion forward [translated VICs] clients strongly. Louis Vuitton is reporting flat sales but Morgan Stanley adds Vuitton and also Saint Laurent to brands being impacted by Chanel’s blinding success under Matthew Blazy. It says Chanel will not officially confirm information, but this IS the data that AOC has from our ‘Sky Eyes’ project in Dallas Ft. Worth and Shanghai. We are tracking time spent in stores Chanel and Dior and that trophy goes to Chanel in both nations at this moment in time. AOC considers spending an hour in the store worthy of VIC designation, until we become more familiar with patterns in the area..

Morgan Stanley also sees explosive growth in young women shopping Chanel.

I’m reading words about Dior like “more conservative” pursuit of more “traditional values”. Jonathan Anderson probably disagrees and LVMH is not interested in such descriptions. After seeing those book totes and all the male rules expressed in books about managing women, Anne says Dior is looking mighty conservative to me.

It they are significantly losing young women, then by definition they are becoming more male focused. I noted both today and last week, that the Dior website leads with menswear on top of womenswear. That’s a rarity. It’s not like Father’s Day is coming soon.

Note below that Bernstein points out that positivity around Dior seems stronger in the West than in China. I note also that even LVMH did not comment on the book totes at all, previously a key item affecting the bottom line of all of LVMH. Their own text does call out positive responses on the new Lady Dior bags.

“Visibility remains limited following the Q1 print,” Barclays analyst Carole Madjo wrote. That’s a general comment on Dior’s real current success or not, even with the 6% increase. Just as I’ve been so confused over Dior’s future strategy, so have the analysts.

“We believe that Louis Vuitton has never been a problem and is not a problem, while Dior is reviving — albeit more in the West than in China — under the new creative leadership of Jonathan Anderson,” Bernstein analyst Luca Solca said. Still, “this is likely not enough to convince investors to step off the fence.”

It is a common theme tonight that the LVMH stock may remain on hold as far as buying it. And hopefully, people won’t panic and sell it, as it’s had a super rough ride. Part of the confidence gap also remains around succession.

There’s a very serious leaker in LVMH and they really should ask Suzie Q where she gets her intelligence. She’s wrong about LVMH far more than she is right. For the record, we are in polar opposite places on Jonathan Anderson. She’s busy tossing around a total redo of Louis Vuitton as we speak, with her water pistol aiming at Pharrell in particular.

Now I know that Suzie Q had Pietro Beccari headed back to Italy this year, with at least 3 changing updates as to why that would be happening. I believe there’s a signed contract that Beccari runs LVMH for 5 years if Bernard Arnault drops dead tomorrow — or is severely impaired. Not one person has told me this is the deal. This is strictly Anne’s common sense at work.

There is no son and definitely no daughter who has Beccari’s sophisticated understanding of the entirety of how fashion runs at LVMH. He has the vision and moxie to move mountains from what I’ve observed.

I really do side with investors who want to know what the backup plan is. I doubt that Arnault himself would accept his own avoidance skills around this subject in any company in which he had a major investment. The situation only further stresses investor confidence in a very volatile world. ~ Anne