Maria Grazia Chiuri To Helm DIOR

In 2005, I was lucky enough to attend the Valentino Spring/Summer 2006 collection at the Louvre. This show epic for me because I managed to come face to face with so many amazing fashion icons in one show. I wrote several lengthy posts about it. You can view them here. 

One of those amazing people was Maria Grazia Chiuri, I was walking with Hamish Bowles after the show and we talked about the collection. I made a comment about the cool belts in the collection and a woman approaching Hamish stopped in front of us and Hamish commented I had her to thank for the belts. There stood Maria, welcoming Hamish. In 2007 Maria and her design partners for over 20 years, Pier Paolo Piccioli were tapped by Valentino to take over as heads of the Valentino House upon his retirement and over 8 years later the fashion has become one of the most iconic brands of the new decade.

Riding high on the roller coaster of fashion, Chiuri is now being tapped again to become the new head of the House of Dior. This morning Valentino released a statement confirming her exit and while its not official, this is a huge step for Dior ever since it tapped Raf Simmons in 2012. I think this is a brilliant move for Dior. I had my reluctance about Simmons but I learned to appreciate his journey in his career. While its sad to see Simmons leave the House, I think Chiuri will be a better fit. Tradition is  deep in the house of Dior and Chiuri has great eye in keeping with tradition while open to new trends.