It’s been 77 years since Christian Dior started his eponymous brand, and today Dior is one of the leading luxury fashion+beauty brands in the world, and more on trend than ever. (There’s even a new Apple TV+ series, The New Look, about Dior’s life and career.) Beauty has been an integral part of the brand early on, since Dior was one of the first couturiers to launch a lipstick (Rouge Dior) in 1953. Cut to the present day, and Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil is a viral bestseller. Disruption and newness are clearly part of the Dior DNA.

Charlotte Holman Ros has led strategic business and operations development in North America for Christian Dior Parfums since September of 2020, and in that time, the brand has experienced remarkable growth. For her, it is the perfect harmony between the Dior legacy and modernity that’s key to continued success in 2024 and beyond. Christian Dior once famously said, “Respect tradition and dare to be bold.” This tenet remains at the very heart of Dior’s beauty business. Here, Holman Ros discusses how #teamdior is navigating the new year ahead, from consumer trends and social media influencers to brick-and-mortar retail.

CEW: What is your outlook for the U.S. prestige beauty market in 2024?

Charlotte Holman Ros: In the last few years, there’s been such growth and transformation across the whole industry and within every category, from fragrances to makeup to skin care. That momentum and the consumers’ demand for new and for more in the category is not abating, so I remain really confident that the growth of the market will continue.

CEW: As retail evolves toward e-commerce, is brick-and-mortar still a driving force in luxury beauty?

CHR: I think that clients want real life experiences more than ever, and the in-store experience is where a brand can truly come to life in terms of the discovery and the overall client journey. A perfect example of that was Dior’s Carousel of Dreams at Saks Fifth Avenue this past holiday. The ultimate desirability of a luxury product is built from the first moment of awareness, across all touch points, whether it’s through social media, online, or in-store — and I think the role of the physical retail experience is only going to get more important.

CEW: What sets Dior apart as a legacy beauty brand?

CHR: We are always looking to disrupt, to transform the client experience. This goes back to the founding story of Christian Dior, who was very revolutionary in terms of what he brought to clients in 1947, coming out of a very difficult period for the world. Dior stood for bringing joy and optimism back into people’s lives in a way that was very authentic, and I think that’s as true today, coming out of a pandemic. As revolutionary as the New Look was back in 1947, we look to revolutionize our product categories today in beauty. As a result, we were the number-one lip brand last year per Circana data, and I think it’s the first time a luxury brand has really dominated in some of these categories because we are offering something that is truly desirable, but in a way that feels very modern and relevant to audiences today.

CEW: How does innovation come into play with a classic legacy brand?

CHR: Dior has always been a brand that’s about truly leading the market, and product innovation is one of the ways we are driving growth in the overall (beauty) industry. A lot of our success and leadership over the last few years has been first-of-its-kind formulas and products across categories, like our Lip Glow Oil and Lip Maximizer products that created an entire consumer trend. When we launched J’Adore Parfum d’Eau in 2022, that was our first ever water-based, alcohol-free perfume, and it brought true innovation to the fragrance category.

CEW: How does Christian Dior Parfums modernize a classic fragrance while honoring its history?

CHR: A revolutionary spirit that’s authentic and natural is key to the approach and the values of Christian Dior. For example, Miss Dior was the first fragrance of the House of Dior, inspired by Christian Dior’s sister, who had her own revolutionary spirit. We’ve tried to inject that spirit of empowered femininity into each incarnation of the fragrance. The savoir-faire and uniqueness of the Dior brand is embodied in Francis Kurkdjian, our Perfume Creation Director, and his relentless pursuit of innovation as he reinterprets classic Dior fragrances for a new audience. This has been a huge driver of the success we’ve seen over Miss Dior since 2021, and I believe will continue to propel that success in 2024 and beyond.

CEW: What are the big consumer trends driving the beauty business in 2024?

CHR:  I think wellness is a key trend, and consumers everywhere are centering wellbeing on all of their choices. A good example of one of our strategies is Dior Spa. We have opened several spectacularly beautiful Dior Spas around the world in recent years, including our global flagship at Hôtel Plaza Athenée in Paris. Another huge trend we’re focused on is growth in the skin care category, and the increasing demand for real efficacy, innovation, and hard-working ingredients. One of our most recent skin care launches at the end of last year was Capture Totale Hyalushot. We’ve seen very strong results from this because it’s a performance-driven product and a formula with proven efficacy.

CEW: How do TikTok and social media influencers play into the growth of a luxury beauty brand?

CHR: I think the client wants to see themselves in the brands and the products they buy, so content creators and influencers enable this opportunity for consumers to really connect a brand to their own values and personal identity. For Dior, I see the value of these partnerships as an authentic way for people to see themselves in the brand, to engage with it, and express themselves through it.

CEW: How do you create Dior desirability for a new generation of Gen Z shoppers?

CHR: We have products that appeal to all ages, and it doesn’t always play where you would expect. For example, our client demographic on Dior Prestige skin care and our La Collection Privée fine fragrances are some of the youngest. Similarly, we have a full age range shopping for Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil as a must-have product. So, I no longer think that brands should be segmenting consumers by age and targeting different products to different ages. I want Dior to be desirable to all beauty consumers, irrespective of age.