Jacobs is still the front-runner for the job to replace John Galliano at Christian Dior, however talks are taking longer than expected, WWD reports, since he and his business partner Robert Duffy want a "substantial" increase in salary and benefits.

According to sources, Dior president and chief executive officer Sidney Toledano is said to have recently spent several days in New York to meet with legal representatives for Jacobs and Duffy. The duo are believed to be looking for a salary somewhere in the low eight figures each, plus other benefits.

WWD notes that, for Jacobs, the Dior job would be substantially more work — with two couture collections and pre-collections on top of ready-to-wear — than what he's got at Louis Vuitton. Not to mention the mental and emotional drain of taking Galliano's old job at one of the most important fashion house's ever, which ought to warrant a nice pay increase, even if the duo is already one of the best paid in fashion today. And even if it's hard to imagine anyone disliking what Jacobs does for Dior, which, again, has to be worth some good extra bones.

Christian Dior/Marc Jacobs Talks Said Proving Difficult [WWD]