Maria Grazia Chiuri is leaving Dior, after 9 years where she played the role of creative director of haute couture and women's accessories collections at the Dior fashion house.
"Christian Dior Couture announces that Maria Grazia Chiuri has decided to leave her position as creative director of women's collections in haute couture, prêt-à-porter and accessories," the French fashion house said in a statement.
“I express my deepest gratitude to Maria Grazia Chiuri, who, since her arrival at Dior, has done an extraordinary job with an inspiring feminist perspective and extraordinary creativity; all outlined by the spirit of Monsieur Dior, which enabled her to create accomplished collections,” said Delphine Arnault, chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture.
"She has written a key chapter in the history of Christian Dior, contributing significantly to its extraordinary growth and being the first woman to lead the creation of collections for women."
Chiuri also expressed her gratitude:
“I would like to thank Mr. Arnault (Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH) for the trust he placed in me and Delphine for her support. I am particularly grateful for the work carried out by my teams and ateliers. Their talent and expertise allowed me to bring my vision of women’s fashion to life. Together we have written an influential chapter of which I am extremely proud.”
Her successor has not yet been announced.
Maria Grazia Chiuri, the Italian designer, began her career at Fendi in 1989 as a handbag designer and then moved to Valentino in 1999 as an accessories designer, to be promoted to co-creative director alongside Pierpaolo Piccioli in 2008.
She was appointed to Dior in 2016, becoming the first female designer since the house's founding in 1947 — succeeding Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano and Raf Simons.
Her debut collection for spring-summer 2017 included T-shirts with slogans like “We should all be feminists.” This set the tone for her line, which often referenced female empowerment.
Over the years, Chiuri collaborated with several artists on the sets of the shows, including Judy Chicago, Faith Ringgold, Eva Jospin and Mickalene Thomas. She had a very interesting approach and we remember that at the Dior SS25 show, the Italian artist and athlete Sagg Napoli shot arrows while the models walked.
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