Style File: Dior blooms in Covent Garden

The French brand’s latest London venture is a gem of a boutique dedicated to beauty, says Rebecca Gonsalves

Since the two minutes that were supposed to launch Christmas – the John Lewis Yuletide advertisement that only inspired endless comment on the dodgy logic of a bear befriending a hare – debuted last week, the season of peace, goodwill and stocking-stuffing is officially open for discussion. Rather handy for Dior, as its latest venture – a Covent Garden-based beauty boutique – will surely do a roaring trade in presents of the cosmetic variety.

Covent Garden may have a reputation as tourist trap, but many of the shops and restaurants have had a makeover, with new arrivals expanding the offering too. Indeed, Dior will be in fine cosmetic company, with Chanel’s make-up pop-up made permanent and MAC unveiling a new three-storey store earlier this year.

As well as cosmetics, the new Dior store is dedicated to the house’s extensive arsenal of covetable fragrances for men and women. After all, it was Christian Dior himself who said: “I became a perfumer so that by simply opening a bottle, I could see each of my dresses emerge, and so that every woman I dress leaves the scent of desire in her wake.”

The product range - including a limited-edition Covent Garden palette of velvety black and steel-grey shadows for eyes, embossed in a houndstooth check that is one of the houses’s signatures, and a lip gloss in a trademark shade of delicate rose - is undeniably extensive. But key to the success of the launch will be the customer experiences, such as skincare master classes, make-up coaching and manicures inspired by the catwalk collections of Dior womenswear’s artistic director Raf Simons. Fittingly for the former site of the famous flower market, there will be a resident “flower artist” who will explore the different floral composition of your signature Dior fragrance.

Considering Dior dreamt of making women “not only more beautiful, but also happier”, he’d surely be pleased with this development.

dior.com/beauty