Maria Grazia Chiuri made history in 2016 when she became the first female to be appointed as artistic director of Dior. She brings a distinctive new feminine lens to the Dior look.
Born in Rome, Italy, she studied fashion design at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome. Upon her graduation in 1989, she started working in accessories at the Italian fashion Maison, Fendi. It was at Fendi that she began cultivating her relationship with long-time co-creator Pierpaolo Piccioli. Together they created the Baguette, widely considered to be the world’s first “it” bag. Ten years later, they were hand-picked by Valentino Garavani to be responsible for Valentino accessories. Upon Valentino’s retirement in 2007, they were appointed co-heads of accessories and the following year were named co-creative directors of Valentino. People credit Chiuri and Pierpaolo with revitalizing Valentino.
In 2016 Chiuri became the first female in the 70-year history of Dior to be named as artistic director, following in the footsteps of Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano and Raf Simons. Her debut Dior collection at Paris fashion week established her feminist interpretation of fashion and ready-to-wear collections. At her debut, the world first saw Chiuri’s iconic “We Should All be Feminists” t-shirt, starring the title of Ted Talk by feminist icon Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Chuiri’s feminist views should not come as a surprise, given her upbringing. Her mother was a seamstress and strongly believed in women making their own way in the world. She was strongly encouraged by her family to study and to be independent. Chiuri has stated that her views on feminism have changed as she has gotten older and has read more and educated herself further. Although she views Dior as a house focused on femininity, she has redefined thoughts about femininity. She refuses to limit women to the older model of femininity, which was often limited to dresses, flowers and the like. She instead believes that Dior is a fashion house for modern-day women and should include aesthetics for every outfit that a woman might need, no matter how relaxed or formal. That is why she has appointed her daughter, Rachele, as a cultural advisor to Dior. Rachele aims to incorporate feminist theory and female artists into Dior’s collections.
Under her leadership, Dior has brought back the iconic saddle bag, embraced influencer marketing, and propelled Dior into the millennial market, making 44 billion Euros in 2017 and increasing the net income by over one billion from the previous year.
In 2015 Chiuri, alongside Piccioli, received the Council of Fashion Designers of America International Award. She was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 2019, which is France’s highest award.
Maria Grazia Chiuri’s extensive impact on luxury fashion will see her go down in history as one of the most celebrated fashion designers of the generation. She has reinvigorated not one but two major fashion houses. Her distinct views of femininity and feminism are crucial to her unique and enduring style.