Following Silvia Venturini Fendi’s recent departure, the label has announced the ex-Dior designer as her successor
The rumours are true: Maria Grazia Chiuri is taking over as creative director of Fendi. The news comes two weeks after its former creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi – a third-generation designer of the Fendi family – announced she was stepping down from the Roman house. Confirmed today (October 14) via the brand’s Instagram account, the announcement follows weeks of heavy speculation that the former Dior designer could be the one to take the reins.
“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,” said CEO Bernard Arnault, reassuring fashion fans who worried that the industry might lose one of its only women in a luxury creative director role. “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,” he continued.
In the same statement, Chiuri said: “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.” Elsewhere, she continued that the house “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.”
As she reminds us, this won’t be Chiuri’s first time working under the Fendi empire. Back in 1989, shortly after graduating from the Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome, the Italian designer cut her teeth in Fendi’s accessories department alongside Pierpaolo Piccioli, working together during the era that defined the label’s reputation for iconic leather goods. In 2008, the same design duo were named as creative directors at Valentino, taking over from the brand’s founder, Valentino Garavani and growing the house to reach $1 billion in revenue in their eight years at its helm.
Last May, Chiuri left her nine-year stint as the first female creative director of womenswear at Dior, a role formerly held by design legends like Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, and Raf Simons. During her nine-year run, the designer embraced a new, feminist direction for the French house: enlisting talent like Rihanna and Rosalía as brand ambassadors, celebrating influential women throughout history, like Frida Kahlo, and creating the viral ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ t-shirt, which launched at her SS17 runway show.
As for her Fendi debut, Chiuri’s first runway show is expected to take place during the AW26 in Milan. The show will follow Silvia Venturini Fendi’s colourful, all-star finale at Milan Fashion Week SS26 – a joyful celebration of fashion where models like Alex Consani, Paloma Elsesser, and Anok Yai walked across industrial designer Marc Newson’s immersive, quilt-inspired showspace in designs that paid homage to Fendi’s 100-year archive.
As with all fashion seasons, this wasn’t the only creative director change-up to hit the news. Alongside the long list of debuts scheduled for SS26 – to name a few, see: Demna at Gucci, Dario Vitale at Versace, Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta, Duran Lantink at Jean Paul Gaultier, Mattieu Blazy at Chanel, and Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga – Sunnei auctioned off its creative directors Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo (no, really) shortly before announcing their departure from the brand.
Scroll through the gallery above to view Siliva Venturini Fendi’s final collection at the Italian label