The First Lady Of Dior
Maria Grazia Chiuri made history as the first female creative director for Dior’s womenswear, but with her recent departure the brand’s future seems uncertain.
Dior’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri is full of imaginative, whimsical designs inspired by historical fashions. Esther Finch is styled in Dior. Photographed by Agnes Lloyd-Platt. Available via IG @dior. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
After nearly a decade leading the creation of Dior’s womenswear, legendary Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri has announced her departure. She was the first woman to hold the position since the brand’s founding in 1947. Her designs redefined Dior’s image through fantasy and whimsy while staying true to the brand’s illustrious heritage. For her debut collection, she made a bold statement with shirts that read “We should all be feminists,” it’s ironic given that she was the first female director in the brand’s 70-year history. Harper’s Bazaar Editor-in-Chief Lydia Slater said it best when she described the designer as being “as revolutionary at the Maison as Christian Dior himself, maintaining the designer’s vision of the eternal ‘femme fleur’ - but giving her a feminist twist.”
Not only does her work often feature feminist references, but she prioritizes collaborating with female artists and writers during her shows. She has an intimate knowledge of what women need, being one of the few female directors in luxury fashion. The simplicity and practicality in her designs have proven that- her couture designs even have pockets. In a brand that was already known for making women look beautiful, Chiuri made women feel beautiful in comfortable clothing. Her whimsical and youthful designs inspired by her daughter have brought in a new generation of fans for Dior.
Under her direction, the brand has been able to target a younger demographic who embrace similar ideals of individualism and self-expression. They brought a new energy that she was able to use to revitalize the brand’s image and even successfully revived the Dior saddle bag. Chiuri has stated that “Fashion born at this moment is seeing a big change,” and “The new generation has raised big questions about gender, race, environment, and cultures that we have to reflect in fashion.” Her support for the younger generation has opened doors for countless new artists while creating a fresh new look for the more traditional brand.
Her departure comes off the heels of her final collection, the Dior Cruise 2026 show, which was her most personal collection to date. For the first time she hosted the show in her hometown of Rome, the collection was meant to be a love letter to the city. It was meant to represent her vision for the Dior woman with timeless and elegant ensembles inspired by the Elizabethan era. Her designs were based on the concept of "bella confusione” which blurs the lines between the real and the fantastical. It was a spectacle with a cinematic runway that celebrated Roman culture and theater.
For a brand that has always been about women, they have really flourished while under the direction of one. Her ability to take classic Dior designs and reinvent them for a new generation has helped quadruple their revenue, making her tenure with them one of the most successful yet. Not only has she brought Dior into the modern world, but she changed the narrative around women in fashion. Without Chiuri championing female empowerment, it will be interesting to see how the brand continues to incorporate female artists.
It wasn’t long after she announced her departure that Jonathan Anderson, Dior’s menswear creative director was announced as her replacement. The Irish designer has been head of the brand’s menswear since April after leaving Loewe. LVMH's CEO Bernard Arnault has said that Anderson is “one of the greatest creative talents of his generation” tasked with “writing the next chapter of the Dior house's history." He presented his highly anticipated debut collection today to rave reviews, even giving fans a glimpse of his interpretation of Dior’s womenswear dressing celebrities like Mia Goth. With the future of Dior in his hands, Anderson has a lot to live up to.
