Dior CEO’s Ewha ceremony draws Korea’s business leaders

Major South Korean business leaders attended a ceremony at Ewha Womans University on Thursday conferring an honorary doctorate on Delphine Arnault, chief executive officer (CEO) of Christian Dior Couture, drawing attention to their personal and business ties with the French luxury fashion executive.

According to business sources, the ceremony was attended by Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung, his wife Chung Ji-seon, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, and his eldest son Shin Yoo-yeol, head of the Future Growth Division at Lotte Corp.

Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun and Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin were also among the attendees.

Chung has no publicly known business ties with Dior. His attendance, however, drew attention to the longstanding relationship between the Hyundai founding family and Ewha Womans University.

Hyundai Motor Group said Chung “attended the ceremony at the invitation of Ewha Womans University,“ adding that its relationship with the university dates back to the time of the late Chung Ju-yung, honorary chairman of Hyundai Group.

Chung’s grandfather, the late Chung Ju-yung, received an honorary doctorate from Ewha in 1986.

Hyundai Motor Group built and donated the Asan Engineering Building to the university in 1996 and the Hyundai Motor Building at its Science Complex in 2013 as part of efforts to support the development of female engineering talent.

Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun also has close ties with Ewha.

An alumna of the university, she served on the board of trustees of the Ewha Haktang educational foundation from 2017 to 2025.

Hotel Shilla President Lee and Arnault are well known for their friendship of about 30 years. Arnault is the daughter of Bernard Arnault, chairman of luxury conglomerate LVMH Mo?t Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH), and the two families are said to have maintained close ties for many years.

The business relationship between Hotel Shilla and LVMH dates back to 1991, when Louis Vuitton opened its first store in Korea at The Shilla Seoul.

Lee is also known to have played a key role in bringing Louis Vuitton to the Shilla Duty Free store at Incheon International Airport in 2010, building on the longstanding relationship.

During the LVMH chairman’s visit to Korea in 2023, he visited the Leeum Museum of Art with his daughter Delphine and son Arnault, where they toured exhibitions accompanied by honorary museum director Hong Ra-hee, the mother of Lee, and Lee herself.

Lotte Group Chairman Shin and his eldest son also maintain ties with the Arnault family.

When LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault visited Korea with his daughter Delphine in May, Shin and his son personally welcomed the delegation at Lotte Department Store’s Jamsil branch.

Given Lotte Department Store’s role as a major distribution channel for global luxury brands, the meeting was seen as highlighting the business partnership between the two sides in Korea’s luxury goods market.

Ewha Womans University said it decided to award Arnault the honorary degree in recognition of her management capabilities and leadership in the global fashion industry, her contributions to nurturing the next generation of talent, and her alignment with the university’s educational vision of promoting women’s advancement.

“I am deeply honored to receive this meaningful recognition from Ewha Womans University,” said Arnault at the ceremony. “Korea has long been a very important market for Dior, and it remains so today.”

“I am proud to support the talent, creativity and leadership of young women,” she added.

Meanwhile, the relationship between Ewha Womans University and Dior dates back to 2022, when the two signed a partnership agreement aimed at fostering female talent, promoting gender equality and building a sustainable society.

In April of that year, Dior held its fall 2022 collection fashion show at the university’s Ewha Campus Complex (ECC), marking the luxury fashion house’s first fashion show on a university campus in Korea.