A much-awaited Christian Dior fashion show originally slated to take place at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal on March 23, and one of the city’s planned mega events, has been postponed largely for commercial reasons, the Post has learned.
The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said on Friday night that it “just received” notification from the organiser that the show would be postponed, but added the delay of mega events often happened.
A source familiar with the company said the management of the French luxury brand decided to postpone the event in the face of China’s economic uncertainties.
The mainland Chinese economy is facing challenges in maintaining the 5.2 per cent growth it achieved last year amid property market turmoil and fluctuations in global demand. Its exports fell 5 per cent in 2023 from a year earlier.
“It was primarily a commercial consideration,” the source said.
The company said in a statement that the show had been “postponed indefinitely”, but stopped short of providing any further details.
Dior artistic director Kim Jones was to present the men’s autumn collection at the terminal, located at the site of the former Kai Tak airport and nearly 1,000 visitors, including the company’s overseas VIPs, were expected to attend.
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Culture and tourism minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung in January counted the Dior show as one of Hong Kong’s 80 mega events slated for the first half of the year that would bring “joy and pride” to locals and tourists, as well as burnish the city’s image on the international stage.
The show was not due to receive any government funding.
Lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon cast doubts on the last-minute delay, adding that a significant amount of money should have been spent on production and invitations sent out by now.
“Why would there be a delay at such a critical moment?” she said.
“I hope the secretary of the [culture bureau] or Dior can give an explanation regarding the delay. The lack of an explanation is not good for Hong Kong. It’s like Hong Kong is being fooled. This will generate a lot of speculation.
“If Hong Kong wants to be a hub of mega events but they are all postponed or the stars don’t make an appearance, who will visit Hong Kong for its events? It would be very uncertain for tourists,” she said, pointing to how football star Lionel Messi had earlier sat out a friendly match in Hong Kong.
Fellow lawmaker Vincent Cheng Wing-shun said it was too early to comment on the impact of the delay as the reason was not clear yet, and brushed aside concerns it would affect the city’s mega-events economy.
“[Organising these events] is like doing business deals, some might be successful, some may not be. Not every deal is going to happen. It is all a process and there are bound to be ups and downs,” said Cheng, vice-chairman of the Major Sports Events Committee.
Dior’s global ambassadors include Taiwanese superstar singer Jay Chou, Korean BTS’ Jimin, Blackpink’s Jisoo and Haerin of the NewJeans K-pop girl group.
