Maria Grazia Chiuri - Designer, Creative Director of Fendi

[style_expert]

I think she got the COO role purely as an LVMH incentive to get her out of Dior ASAP, and to make it look like she was receiving a promotion of sorts — not a simple downgrade to a much smaller house.

I can’t say I’m curious to see her version of Fendi, but maybe she’ll surprise us… I do think it could be a more natural fit for her than Dior.

That said, I hate how LVMH has kind of neglected Fendi since Karl.

 

[Salvatore]

If she does not play this at a show, is she really a feminist ? Lol

 

[Frederic01]

I really hope she will evolve her vision by the time she starts at Fendi and that she won't bring the exact same team that she had at Dior - because if she does, Fendi will just look like Dior by MGC 2.0. The whole feminist lens, the Greco-Roman sandals and dresses in every single show, the same female photographers, etc etc. After almost a decade of that on repeat, it feels exhausting.

And for goodness sakes if she brings that same stylist she had at Dior, then the brand really is doomed. What Fendi needs is a refreshed version of Maria Grazia Chiuri's aesthetic, and with improved changes. What they don't need is a carbon copy of what she did at Dior but with Fendi logo's.

Her appointment could go either way to be honest. If she is clever and brings the lightness and freshness of her Valentino, it could work. But if she does the exact same thing that she did at Dior and works with the exact same people and team, then it will be a disaster.

 

[fruitdots]

I really hope she will evolve her vision by the time she starts at Fendi and that she won't bring the exact same team that she had at Dior - because if she does, Fendi will just look like Dior by MGC 2.0. The whole feminist lens, the Greco-Roman sandals and dresses in every single show, the same female photographers, etc etc. After almost a decade of that on repeat, it feels exhausting.

And for goodness sakes if she brings that same stylist she had at Dior, then the brand really is doomed. What Fendi needs is a refreshed version of Maria Grazia Chiuri's aesthetic, and with improved changes. What they don't need is a carbon copy of what she did at Dior but with Fendi logo's.

Her appointment could go either way to be honest. If she is clever and brings the lightness and freshness of her Valentino, it could work. But if she does the exact same thing that she did at Dior and works with the exact same people and team, then it will be a disaster.

Sadly, I think that "lightness and freshness" at Valentino was coming from Pier Paolo, because we also got a lot of the Greco-Roman theme you've identified there (with a little bit of Renaissance Florence thrown in for good measure).

 

[Xone]

The most disappointing aspect of her taking over Fendi is the fact that the discussion goes to back commerce.
Don’t get me wrong, fashion designers are expect to sell even if there isn’t any obligation of results behind their hiring, but in a way it’s a discussion almost detached from what should be the main thing: fashion, creativity, desirability.

Fashion should also take us somewhere else beyond wanting to sell a cashmere sweater.

I don’t know, I don’t feel like she dressed women in an empowering way. She made A line dresses on 15 years old.

I’m actually sad.

I agree with you, but sadly the times now is that execs have less patience to CD to develop a language and they expect not only they have happy the press but they have to sell. That pressure is becoming bigger and bigger and i cannot imagine the amount of stress currents CD from all the big houses faces. Even if they oversees things and are not involved like creators in the past, in the end they have to put the face upfront.

But yes i still expect CD take us to different places and provoke reaction on us...

I still think Silvia was more than fine at that position...

 

[yslforever]

I’ve heard they really struggled to find anyone so they called to MCG…now we’re left with the question who’s getting menswear

I was going to suggest Kim Jones, to reunite the dream team, but just remembered he was fired from Fendi.

It’s a pompous way to say CD. She will have a little bit more responsibility regarding marketing, special projects and things like that.
She will be like a Tom Ford at Gucci, a Hedi Slimane, a Phoebe at Céline or a NG at Balenciaga…Even though I don’t think she will decide on stores. She may be involved but not to the degree those were…

The higher title is a bandaid to hide the downgrade from Dior to Fendi.

 

[Nimsay]

Right. I thought Maria was given Fendi bc they tried to throw her out of Dior.

I mean that book tote is not looking so good either considering Maria did nothing in service of the label.

Maria was hired bc they had nobody to follow Raf bc they didnt think he would flop so badly so we are here.

Maria is the designer Dior never wanted and Maria made them pay dearly for not wanting her. She was a placeholder for Dior.

Fendi is honestly perfect for her.

 

[Simera]

I feel like she would have picked Fendi vs Dior any day of the week.
It's an Italian house, in Roma. IMO she might be the perfect for for Fendi if she can get away from her dull Dior with no colors that always looked the same.

Just keep PG for casting and please no more unisex runway shows. And use color. There is more to life than white, black and beige.

 

[jeanclaude]

Sounds like damage control for Dior, they don´t want to totally lose Mary-Grace customers because of JW...but at the same time, if Dior was already feeling fatigue in sales (because Mary-Grace has the creative level of a Shein designer)...do they really think she will be able to boost Fendi??

Fashion conglomerates logic: let´s revitalize a tired brand by hiring a burnt and exhausted CD from another tired brand...because nothing screams more "excitement" and "hype", than a designer who is going to make exactly the same stuff under a different label.

 

[LadyJunon]

Sounds like damage control for Dior, they don´t want to totally lose Mary-Grace customers because of JW...but at the same time, if Dior was already feeling fatigue in sales (because Mary-Grace has the creative level of a Shein designer)...do they really think she will be able to boost Fendi??

Fashion conglomerates logic: let´s revitalize a tired brand by hiring a burnt and exhausted CD from another tired brand...because nothing screams more "excitement" and "hype", than a designer who is going to make exactly the same stuff under a different label.

They're probably throwing Fendi to the wolves to allow them the space to ut Dior's figurative church back in the middle of the figurative village. Under MGC, the discussion of Dior has been more centered around the culture the brand cultivated (artists, collaborations, exhibitions) rather than what the brand actually showed on the runway and delivered in stores. When sales finally fell, there was no reason for LVMH to keep her there.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

She was long wanted at Fendi, I posted back in 2018 she would go there to oversee the full brand (was just off by a few years 😅).
It was more that they could not find someone they were confident in for Dior. Kim Jones campaigned hard to also take over women’s at Dior at the time but they placated him with Fendi and extended MGC’s contract.

Luckily for now she gets to follow Jones, one of the only designers less inspired than her. The bar is in hell and that will work in her favor, I hope.

 

[mepps]

It seems everyone here hates Maria except me. I actually liked her at Dior, and in the real world, she had her fans. She understands femininity, and will bring that to Fendi. Watch her gag the fashionspot.

 

[Caffeine]

It seems everyone here hates Maria except me. I actually liked her at Dior, and in the real world, she had her fans. She understands femininity, and will bring that to Fendi. Watch her gag the fashionspot.

I like her version of the bar jacket. It is one of my go to places for my work wardrobe.
The rest can be repetitive over the years. I also agree that she needs to have more colors. No this excludes the very purple purple they showed last winter in the commercial line.
Come to think of it, after Dries left his brand, we don't have a color master nowadays. I also recall the collection Donnatella did after her rehab back in...2007?