Maria Grazia Chiuri is returning to Fendi as chief creative officer

Nearly 36 years since she began her career at the Roman fashion house, Maria Grazia Chiuri is set to return to Fendi as chief creative officer – a much-rumoured move which will see her replace Silvia Venturini Fendi, who announced she was stepping away from her creative role at the company earlier this month.

The Rome-born designer is best known for her nine-year tenure as creative director of Dior’s womenswear and haute couture lines (she was succeeded by Jonathan Anderson, who debuted his men’s and womenswear collections for the Parisian house earlier this year). Prior to that, she was creative director of Valentino alongside Pierpaolo Piccioli, who she had previously worked with at Fendi.

Maria Grazia Chiuri is Fendi’s chief creative officer

‘I return to Fendi with honour and joy, having had the privilege of beginning my career under the guidance of the House’s founders, the five sisters. Fendi has always been a forge of talents and a starting point for many creatives in the industry, thanks to the extraordinary ability of these five women to foster and nurture generations of vision and skill,’ she said in a statement today.

The creative direction of the house has been in limbo since the departure of Kim Jones in December last year. In the time since, Venturini Fendi – a third-generation member of the Fendi family who joined the company in 1992 – has overseen the design of the house’s men’s and womenswear collections, including a lauded 100th anniversary show in February.

Though not specified, Chiuri is expected to oversee both the house’s men’s and women’s collections, as well as haute couture and accessories. Her first show will take place in February of next year during the womenswear edition of Milan Fashion Week. Venturini Fendi, meanwhile, will stay on as ‘honorary president’.

‘Maria Grazia Chiuri is one of the greatest creative talents in fashion today, and I am delighted that she has chosen to return to Fendi to continue expressing her creativity within the LVMH group, after sharing her bold vision of fashion,’ says Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH Group, of which Fendi is a part. ‘Surrounded by the Fendi teams and in a city that is dear to her, I am convinced that Maria Grazia will contribute to the artistic renewal and future success of the Maison, while perpetuating its unique heritage.’

LVMH will be hoping that Chiuri brings her Midas touch to the house: during her tenure at Dior, she grew sales from €2.2 billion in 2017 to €9.5 billion in 2023. As the house’s first female creative director, she brought a feminist lens to her collections – memorably, her first collection included a T-shirt reading ‘We Should All Be Feminists’, taken from the 2014 essay by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; and she went on to collaborate with numerous women artists during her tenure, including Judy Chicago, Mickalene Thomas and Eva Jospin.

‘I am particularly grateful for the work accomplished by my teams and the ateliers,’ she said at the time. ‘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.’

fendi.com