Dior apologises over unauthorised China data leak

Luxury fashion house Dior has apologised after an unauthorised external party had accessed some of the Chinese customer data it held. Meanwhile, it added that the affected database did not contain any financial details.

This came after the brand sent an internal memo to its consumers on Monday, confirming there was a data breach involving the Chinese consumer database.

According to a customer notice seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Dior said that it found out on 7 May that a third party had accessed certain customer data without authorisation. The impacted data includes customers' names, gender, phone numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses, purchase amounts, shopping preferences, and other user data gathered by the brand.

While the brand did not disclose how many customers were impacted, the brand said that no financial information, such as bank account details, IBANs, or credit card data, was compromised in the incident, adding that the message had only been sent to affected customers. 

The company called on Chinese customers to stay extremely cautious. It recommended avoiding the opening of suspicious messages, calls, or emails from unknown sources, and warned against sharing verification codes, passwords, or other sensitive information. It added that safeguarding customer data is the most important mission for the brand, and it apologised for the inconvenience caused.

The incident has triggered widespread concerns among Chinese netizens. A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw on Xiaohongshu that many customers who received Dior's text message were worried about their data being misused, while some said they thought this was a scam.

In response, a Dior customer service representative told Global Times that it recently identified a security breach that resulted in unauthorised access to certain data it held, including customer information. "Upon discovering the issue, we immediately took steps to contain it."

The incident is still under investigation and that no further details are available at this stage, the representative added. "If there are any developments in the investigation, customers with inquiries will be updated directly via phone." 

The incident coincides with Dior’s parent company, LVMH, reporting a 3% year-over-year drop in group revenue, totaling €20.3 billion (HK$175.8 billion) in the first quarter. Revenue from China (excluding Japan) fell by 11%, with the region’s contribution to total sales decreasing from 33% in 2024 to 30%.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Dior for a statement.

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