The rumour is true. Maria Grazia Chiuri is now at Fendi. Is her departure from Dior then not just a corporate holding pattern?

Unlike the other designers who quit their jobs at heritage houses, Maria Grazia Chiuri did not seem to have actually left. Look at her colleague Kim Jones. He departed, and we heard of him no more. Ditto John Galliano from Margiela and Virginie Viard from Chanel. But Ms Chiuri stayed clear of the disappearing act. She was laying low in the wings, waiting for this day: to prove that the rumours of her move to Fendi are true. LVMH has just announced that she will now be Fendi’s “chief creative officer”, effectively taking over Silvia Venturini Fendi, who stepped down after presenting the brand’s inspired spring/summer 2026 collection. Ms Chiuri will present her first collection in February next year.

It has been widely speculated that LVMH would not let her go. She brought immense fortunes to Dior; she is their golden goose. They were so grateful to her, so much so that they even made the expensive arrangement for her to present her last collection—the cruise collection shown in March—in Rome, her hometown and where she will get to work at Fendi. This a rare corporate act of goodwill. Her “departure” from Dior now reads less like an exit and more like a strategic intermission. The return to the LVMH stable is a continuation of a long, unbroken thread within the LVMH tapestry. This is a symbolic reclamation of legacy and a convenient hop to Fendi, where she first began her fashion career, to lead a house marinated in matriarchal heritage, echoes her feminist-inflected tenure at Dior.

Ms Chiuri received considerable negative criticism for her work at Dior. Her tenure was, simply put, polarizing. Critics (us included) often accused her of being too literal, too slogan-driven, too focused on message over silhouette. Her slogan-tees were seen as performative, even commercially opportunistic. There is, however, a paradox in all this: those very critiques underscore her cultural impact. These days, criticism is cultural proof: she turned Dior into a platform for fervent discourse, not just dubious display. It is without doubt that she would join Fendi with the baggage, but, as one marketing consultant told us, “it is designer baggage”, filled with a track record of commercial success that Fendi craves. LVMH is betting the price of that baggage is nothing compared to the revenue it guarantees.

Photo: Fendi