1、Source： English Language Adaptation Edition Experiencing Business English Coursebook 3, published by Higher Education Press Limited Company, Copyright 2020. Reading 1: Restless pursuer of luxurys future By Vanessa Friedman Sidney Toledano (Diors Chief Executive) is one of the longest-serving chief e
2、xecutives in the luxury industry. As the industry goes global, he must balance the demands of shareholders and the values of a historic label, the need for exclusivity and the need for expansion. He routinely communicates with his demanding boss, Bernard Arnault, main shareholder of Christian Dior,
3、and a number of creative types, including Diors clothes designer John Galliano and jewellery designer Victoire de Castellane. The best advice I ever got was that, when times are bad, you need to get out of the office; when things are good, you can spend time on the organisation, says Mr Toledano, wh
4、o travels almost every week to one of Diors 224 stores round the world. You have to look for newness, look for what is happening next. Forget the calculator. Understand the people from different countries and what they want. It was by spending time in China in the 1980s, for example, when he worked
5、at the French leather-goods house Lancel, that Mr. Toledano first realised China would one day be prime territory for luxury. I met some factory owners, and they were working so hard, but then they would bring you to a restaurant and it was clear they wanted to enjoy life, he says. And I thought: on
6、e day these people are going to have money and they are going to spend it. A few years later, Bernard Arnault contacted him. The interview took 15 minutes. He knew exactly what he wanted, says Mr. Toledano: to take a small couture house he had bought out of bankruptcy and build it into the biggest l
7、uxury group in the world. Mr. Arnault has used Dior to create LVMH (Louis Vuitton Mot Hennessy, the worlds largest luxury group). Christian Dior can double in five years, he says. There may be difficult times coming, but if you look at the Middle East, China, even Europe, I believe there is growth c
8、oming, and we have to develop our network and perfect our supply chain. The next wave of luxury buyers is now in the new territories: the Middle East, Russia, China and Korea. Mr. Toledano believes not only that a brand should go to its customers but that it should anticipate their needs and invest early in markets that may not show real growth for up to six years.
