Sidney Toledano was born on July 25, 1951, in Casablanca, Morocco. His father Boris Toledano, was a former president of the Jewish Community of Casablanca. Sidney holds an engineering degree from the Ecole Centrale of Paris. He also holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics.
Sidney worked as a Marketing Consultant at Nielsen International then in 1982 joined Kickers as General Secretary. In 1984 he moved to Lancel were he was named Managing Director. Supervising product development he dramatically increased the sales of Lancel.
Before long it was time for Sidney to take on another challenge and this time it was at Christian Dior Couture Fashion House. He joined the company in March 1994 as Director of the Leather Goods Division. In 1995, he launched the “Lady Dior” bag bringing worldwide success to the brand. The following year Sidney was promoted to Managing Director in charge of international development.
He became the President and Chief Executive Officer of Christian Dior Couture in 1998. During his tenure at Christian Dior he relaunched Dior Monsieur as Dior Homme, appointing Creative Director Hedi Slimane in 2001. Sidney developed Dior’s Haute Joaillerie and Fine Jewellery divisions, appointing Victoire de Castellane as Creative Director of Dior Fine Jewellery in 1998, and opening dedicated jeweller stores in New York and Paris in 1998 and 1999 respectively.
Sidney is admired for his straight-talking charm and focused determination, which has allowed him to have productive relationships with Dior’s designers and guiding the company through tough times following their departures.
As stated in the Business of Fashion magazine, he moving words at the 2011 A/W Christian Dior RTW show, just days after former Dior designer John Galliano was filmed making anti-Semitic remarks, showed the Sidney’s approachable manner and the pride he takes in all of his employees.
He has led over a period of exponential expansion of Christian Dior; more than 200 international location have been opened during his time at the house.
