According to WWD, Dior has finalized a contract that will make Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri its first female creative director. WWD’s source says that Chiuri will make her debut for the label this fall, with a spring 2017 ready-to-wear collection. Both Dior and Valentino have thus far declined to comment, but many are expecting official confirmation to come after the couture shows end on July 7.
Chiuri follows in the footsteps of an impressive roster of predecessors including Yves Saint Laurent, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano and Raf Simons; however, she will be by no means operating under the shadow of past creative directors, as she’s earned quite a bit of acclaim for her own efforts, alongside co-creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, at Valentino (which last year reached revenues in excess of $1 billion).
Prior to assuming her current role at Valentino, Chiuri worked for many years as an accessories designer for the brand. Before that, she spent nearly 10 years at Fendi, where she and Piccioli were credited for inventing the “it” Baguette bag.
We’re looking forward to watching Chiuri step out on her own for the first time in the span of a long and impressive career while anticipating exciting shifts in the current creative direction of Dior under her direction.
