French connection

Huang Xuan attends the opening ceremony of Christian Dior's new flagship boutique in Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]

However, Toledano maintains that social media is tool for communication, and it was not Christian Dior's intention to sell their products online at this point.

"The message we communicate is the values. We don't change the content of what we say, we just use a new media. The message of value, excellence and history continues."

"We must be unique in everything we do. We will not use e-commerce as others think it should be done. If you want to order a product, that continues the design and dream behind Dior. It's not about technology, it's about architecture. Future e-commerce stores must mirror our boutiques in every detail," he said.

Toledano emphasizes that Dior will be opening stores in a "very careful" manner and when only there is a sound business plan in place. Next year, the luxury brand plans to open a boutique in Xi'an, Shaanxi province and Changsha, Hunan province.