Maria Grazia Chiuri, the first woman to ever lead Dior’s women’s collections, is exiting the French house after nearly a decade at the helm. Appointed in 2016, Chiuri brought with her a resolutely feminist vision that reverberated through every runway, beginning with her Spring/Summer 2017 debut, where models wore slogan tees emblazoned with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s now-famous line: ‘We should all be feminists.’
“Christian Dior Couture announces that Maria Grazia Chiuri has decided to leave her position as Creative Director of women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories collections,” read a statement from the Maison. “The House of Dior wishes to express today its deepest gratitude to Maria Grazia Chiuri after a wonderful collaboration as Creative Director of women’s collections since 2016.”
Chiuri’s time at Dior was prolific. Across couture, ready-to-wear and accessories, Chiuri reframed femininity not as a trending aesthetic but as a dialogue, collaborating with and honouring artists like Judy Chicago, Elena Bellantoni, and Faith Ringgold, and consistently spotlighting female artisans in Mumbai.
Under her creative leadership, the house saw commercial and creative growth, with sales soaring from €2.2 billion to a peak of €9.5 billion in 2023.
Delphine Arnault, Dior’s Chairman and CEO, praised Chiuri for her “inspiring feminist perspective and exceptional creativity,” noting that she “greatly contributed to [Dior’s] remarkable growth.” Chiuri, for her part, thanked the ateliers and the women artists who helped realise her vision.
“I am particularly grateful for the work accomplished by my teams and the Ateliers,” she wrote. “Their talent and expertise allowed me to realise my vision of committed women’s fashion, in close dialogue with several generations of female artists. Together, we have written an impactful chapter of which I am immensely proud.”
From resurrecting the Saddle Bag to reinterpreting Marc Bohan’s Miss Dior line, Chiuri saw herself as a curator of Dior’s expansive legacy—not just of its founder, but of the visionaries who followed. As the house enters a new era—Jonathan Anderson now leading Dior Men, and senior leadership recalibrations still yet to be confirmed—speculation swirls about her successor.
In an emotional farewell to the House, Chiuri presented her final collection, Cruise 2026, in her hometown of Rome this week.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.
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