Just two days after her May 27 show, a grand finale in her native city of Rome, Maria Grazia Chiuri is leaving Dior, where she served as creative director of the women's collections for nine years. Such longevity is rare in today's fashion world, where most hold the prestigious position for only three to five years.

Born in 1964, Chiuri studied fashion and began her career in Rome. She managed the leather goods line at Fendi, then joined Valentino in 1999, initially overseeing the accessories department before being promoted to co-creative director alongside Pierpaolo Piccioli in 2008. She was approached by Dior, which was seeking a successor to Raf Simons to lead the women's collections (including ready-to-wear, haute couture and accessories). She left Valentino after 17 years of working with the Roman house in 2016.

At Dior, she became the first woman to hold the position of creative director. Feminism immediately became central to her work. In her first show in September 2016, she sent models down the runway in T-shirts bearing the message "We should all be feminists," a reference to the essay of the same name by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which advocates for deconstructing gender stereotypes. In interviews, the Roman designer explained that gender equality was far from being achieved and that the topic needed to be addressed.

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