Maria Grazia Chiuri to exit Dior after nine years
After nine years as Creative Director of Dior's women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories collections, Maria Grazia Chiuri is exiting the French luxury house.
The Italian designer was appointed at Dior in 2016, making history as the first woman to lead the brand since its founding in 1947. She followed in the footsteps of legendary designers including Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, and Raf Simons.
Prior to this, she began her career at Fendi in 1989 as a handbag designer, later joining Valentino in 1999 as an accessories designer before being promoted to co-Creative Director alongside Pierpaolo Piccioli in 2008.
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In a statement, Dior said: "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."
Delphine Arnault, Chairman and CEO at Christian Dior Couture, added: "I extend my warmest thanks to Maria Grazia Chiuri, who, since her arrival at Dior, has accomplished tremendous work with an inspiring feminist perspective and exceptional creativity, all imbued with the spirit of Monsieur Dior, which allowed her to design highly desirable collections.
"Maria Grazia Chiuri has written a key chapter in the history of Christian Dior, greatly contributing to its remarkable growth and being the first woman to lead the creation of women’s collections at the house."
A successor has yet to be named. The news follows Dior’s appointment of Jonathan Anderson as Artistic Director of its men’s collections, succeeding Kim Jones, who stepped down earlier this year.
The rumour mill has been swirling for some time around Maria Grazia Chiuri’s potential departure from Dior. Amidst the speculation, many industry insiders believe that Anderson is being positioned not only to lead Dior Men - as officially announced last month - but also to take the helm of womenswear.
At LVMH’s annual shareholders meeting in April, CEO Bernard Arnault confirmed that the Irish designer will debut his first collection for Dior Men at Paris Fashion Week in June. While the announcement firmly establishes Anderson's role on the menswear side, it leaves open the question of whether he will also assume creative direction for Dior Women.
The news comes after Dior presented its Cruise 2026 collection in Rome on 27 May, showcasing the luxury brand's haute couture and ready-to-wear creations.
Chiuri delivered an "autobiographical synthesis of a moment suspended in time", with the pieces in the metaphorical collection attempting to fuse fashion history and contemporary syntax.
It featured masculine vests with delicate lapels paired with long, full skirts and tailcoats. Meanwhile, dresses in very fine lace or contrasted with bas-relief patterns were combined with military jackets with black edges and detailed buttons.
