Maria Grazia Chiuri Is Fendi’s New Chief Creative Officer

Maria Grazia Chiuri has just been announced as Fendi’s new Chief Creative Officer. The appointment comes six months after Chiuri left Dior where she served as the House’s Creative Director for nine years. Prior to Dior, Chiuri helmed Valentino as Co-Creative Director. Now, in a full circle moment, she’s finally returning to Fendi, where her career began having spent a decade there as their accessories designer. 

For Fendi, Silvia Venturini Fendi, granddaughter of the House’s founders Adele and Edoardo Fendi has been overseeing creative direction for the womenswear department for the past year ever since Kim Jones stepped down from his Creative Director role last October. Last month, Fendi announced Silvia stepping back and into the role of honorary president of the house, which has now allied Chiuri to take her place in the role. 

Chiuri served as the first female creative director for Dior where she had played an integral role in leading the House since Galliano’s departure in 2011. She put a modern and feminine spin on Dior’s elevated silhouettes while still paying homage to the House’s core values and evolving the brand in a refreshing and holistic way. As she returns to her hometown of Rome to lead Fendi’s creative efforts, we believe she’ll go back to her roots as she began working at the House when she was 25 years old. When she joined in 1989 as an accessories designer she assisted in the creation of legendary and beloved Fendi icons like the Baguette Bag. Chiuri will present her first collection for Fendi next February in Milan.