Dior CEO Delphine Arnault: “Don’t follow change; lead it”

[Financial News] “Adaptability is a skill. It is not an end in itself. I hope you will go beyond adapting to change and create change yourselves.”
Delphine Arnault, chair and CEO of Christian Dior Couture, delivered this message to young women in Korea during her acceptance speech for an honorary doctorate in business administration at Ewha Womans University on the 12th. Her message was that they should not merely adapt to a rapidly changing world, but create new currents. Her remarks reflected the management philosophy of Arnault, who leads a global fashion brand and has worked to nurture creative talent among the next generation and develop female leaders.
Ewha Womans University awarded Arnault an honorary doctorate in business administration that day to mark the university’s 140th anniversary. In her citation, Lee Yun-sil, dean of the university’s Graduate School, cited Arnault’s management capabilities and creative leadership in the global fashion and luxury industries, as well as her contributions to identifying creative talent and supporting the growth of women and future generations.
The ceremony was also attended by prominent business figures, including Euisun Chung, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group; Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group; Shin Yoo-yeol, co-CEO of Lotte Biologics and head of the Future Growth Office at Lotte Corporation; Hyun Jeong-eun, chair of Hyundai Group; and Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla.
In her acceptance speech, Arnault also spoke about the results of her collaboration with Ewha Womans University. Dior has mentored 79 Korean university students, about two-thirds of whom are from Ewha. It also runs a two-year Retail Leadership Program for Ewha students and recent graduates. For two consecutive years, Ewha students have either won or reached the finals of the Women@Dior Entrepreneurship Award.
Arnault also shared experiences from her own upbringing with the students. “When I was 16, I worked as an intern at a Dior store and learned the importance of product quality, craftsmanship and customer service,” she explained. The employees who listened to customers and tried to find products suited to each person were her classroom, she said. She emphasized that she is still learning and growing.
She said, “Every leader should ask themselves, ‘Why would people want to follow me as a leader?’” To inspire others, she explained, people must first know what inspires them. She added that “there is no single right answer or model for leadership,” emphasizing that each person should develop their own approach to leadership.
Born in 1975, Arnault worked as a consultant at McKinsey before joining Dior in 2001. After serving as senior vice president of Louis Vuitton, she became chair and CEO of Dior in 2023. The first woman to serve as CEO in Dior’s history, she now leads 14,000 employees working in around 40 countries worldwide.
One of the key achievements cited by Ewha Womans University in awarding Arnault an honorary doctorate was her work in discovering emerging designers. The LVMH Prize, launched in 2014 under Arnault’s leadership, is a program that identifies young fashion designers from around the world and provides financial assistance and professional support across all aspects of brand management. In her citation, Graduate School Dean Lee Yun-sil said, “The program has become a leading platform where a new generation of creative talent can grow on the world stage.”
Developing female talent is another major focus of Arnault’s work. Through the Women@Dior program, run in partnership with UNESCO, she provides young women with the education and mentoring they need as they move from student life into the workforce. Ewha Womans University and Dior have collaborated since 2022, guided by their shared values of developing female talent and promoting gender equality. 

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter