Maria Grazia Chiuri is leaving Dior

The luxury French fashion house has confirmed the news.

Maria Grazia Chiuri takes her bow at the Dior Cruise show in Rome this week. Picture: Getty Images

Maria Grazia Chiuri is stepping down as artistic director at Christian Dior, the luxury French brand has confirmed.

The announcement comes after months of speculation and days after what turns out to be Chiuri’s spectacular final show – a cruise and haute couture at Villa Albani Torlonia in her home city of Rome.

Grazia Chiuri received a standing ovation as she took her bow on Tuesday.

Grazia Chiuri joined Christian Dior in 2016 and achieved enormous commercial success, per HSBC Dior Couture sales grew from 2.2 billion euro to 9.5 billion euro in 2023. Grazia Chiuri drew on the entire archive of Dior in her tenure, expanded the handbag collections and delivered women feminine, wearable clothing. This included plays on the house’s famed nipped-in Bar jacket, riffs on one-time creative director Marc Bohan’s Miss Dior line, John Galliano’s Saddle bags for the house and J’Adore Dior T-shirts.

Feminism and the lives of women and how they work and live rippled through her work. Her debut show featured a T-shirt with the title of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay, We Should All Be Feminists. She would often centre female artists, such as Judy Chicago and Mickalene Thomas, in her shows and collections.

Grazia Chiuri and her atelier would also highlight the work of artisans in the far flung locations chosen to stage the annual Dior cruise show. This includes the embroidery of local artisans for the mega-brand’s 2023 show at the Gateway of India in Mumbai.

In a statement Grazi Chiuri thanked LVMH chief executive and chairman Bernard Arnault – LVMH is the owner of Dior among the likes of Louis Vuitton, Celine, Loewe and more – and his daughter, Delphine Arnault, chief executive of Christian Dior.

“I am particularly grateful for the work accomplished by my teams and the ateliers. 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,” she said.

Delphine Arnault said, “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. She 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.”

The house of Dior was founded by the eponymous designer in 1947. In 1947 he famously transformed fashion with the introduction of his ultra feminine ‘new look.’

Grazia Chiuri’s devotion to the arts was recently realised in the unveiling of the Teatro della Cometa theatre in Rome that Grazia Chiuri has spent the past few years restoring alongside her daughter, Rachele Regini.

A successor has not yet been announced. Former Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson, who transformed the fortunes of Loewe, was announced as the creative director of Dior Men in April. He will present his first show in Paris in June.

Anderson’s debut is part of a slew of changes of creative direction in fashion as luxury houses attempt to weather a prolonged downturn in the industry.

In September at the shows in Paris and Milan Chanel, Gucci and Balenciaga will all reveal the debut collections from new creative directors.