Actually, I can almost guarantee she is leaving—Dior just hasn’t made the official announcement yet, and for very calculated legal and PR reasons.
Under French labor law, Maria Grazia Chiuri is likely on a CDI (permanent contract), which means Dior can fire her, but they have to do it properly: with justification, procedure, and respect. She may be making her exit difficult behind the scenes (e.g. resisting a soft exit, controlling her team tightly, or blocking early integration of a new designer), but there’s nothing stopping Dior from terminating her after what is most probably her final deliverable—the Rome show.
That show is key. It’s likely the last project she’s expected to deliver under her current scope. After that, even if she’s technically still on payroll, Dior can remove her from all creative duties. They’re not legally required to let her continue designing just because she’s still employed—they can place her on “gardening leave” (paid suspension) or reassign her duties while finalizing her exit.
The most likely reason Dior hasn’t announced her departure is because doing so while she’s still under contract could expose them to a claim of constructive dismissal or reputational harm under French law. It’s also just bad optics to announce someone’s replacement before their final show—it undermines the collection and invites messy press. Dior is waiting to control the narrative: let her present Rome, then pivot cleanly to the next era.
And yes, the JW Anderson news was not formally announced—it came up as a shareholder response, and no press release followed because Dior can’t publicly name a successor until Chiuri is fully out. But make no mistake: she’s in all likelihood gone. It’s a safe bet Rome is her last show.