Dear Shaded Viewers,
So, after all the conjecture, the gossip, the tittle tattle, Maria Grazia Chiuri is departing as the Creative Director of the house of Christian Dior after nine years.
A spot of history and timeline; the house opened in 1946 and showed its first collection in January 1947. The fortune teller’s prediction of ten years success for Dior was correct, one decade exactly later he died. After his death Yves Saint Laurent had taken over from of Monsieur Dior in 1957, but left in 1960, Marc Bohan replaced him and remained an unbelievable twenty-nine years to be replaced by Gianfranco Ferre who was at Dior for eight years, followed by John Galliano in nineteen ninety-seven until two thousand and eleven. The house was then run for a brief period by Bill Gaytten who was in his turn replaced by Raf Simons in two thousand and twelve, three years later he left and for a brief moment Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux designed the collections until Maria Grazia stepped in directly from Valentino.
Born only seven years after the death of Monsieur Christian Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri has a lifetime of fashion experience at the highest luxury level behind her. Born in Rome to a father in the military and a mother who was a dress maker and with five sisters she was encouraged to study and went to the Istituto Europe’s di Design in Rome.
Soon after graduating in 1989, she joined Fendi where she also recruited Pierpaolo Piccioli to join the department. Ten years later she joined the house of Valentino where she again worked on accessories and Pierpaolo joined her. In 2008 when Mr Valentino retired, she was promoted alongside Piccioli to become co artistic director.
In 2019 Maria Grazia was announced as creative director of both Haute Couture and Pret a Porter at Dior, replacing Raf Simons.
Her approach to creating and designing multiple collection for the house has embraced many of the historical and heritage signatures from across the years and seasons. The famous New Look silhouette, including of course the Bar jacket Monsieur Dior’s love of roses, romanticism and the ballet, the arts, and crafts of a great couture house, as well as making her own fashion and creative statements. The influence of Italy and her Rome background, her belief in the power of women and her interest outside merely couture craft to the concept of cultural crafts and traditions. Her collection shown in India balanced Parisienne Christian Dior with the country’s colours and textiles, the traditions of drape or lean streamlined tailoring.
The final collection of cruise just shown in Rome encapsulated and encompassed her philosophy and attitude perfectly with its theatrical references. Dior designed for the theatre and ballet, her love of a special kind of Comedia dell’Arte style is reminiscent of Diors great friend Christian Berard, as well as the surprising society life of the shy Dior at huge events like society balls. This summing up with cruise and couture was a fitting farewell to the house she has served so faithfully for nine years.
Shows have celebrated the circus and the dance, the rose garden, and the very headquarters of Dior at 30 Avenue Montaigne, where it all began. Her interest in and dexterity in balancing the heritage and her own fashion vision has confused many. Maria Grazia Chiuri was experienced enough to do it her own way, to say what she wanted to say and follow her creative pathway, whilst still offering a Dior for clients and customers, for those simply needing a simple sun dress or those requiring a tulle ballgown. Her work with her team offered stars from Meryl Streep to Ysolde in Dior, from sexy and headline grabbing, to svelte and seductive simplicity. Maria Grazia balanced her family and life and her Italian roots with a Paris fashion life under constant scrutiny, it is a key role in global fashion, a great name, and an internationally famous mark.
Her love of black was balanced by a very subtle colour palette where Renaissance jewel tones were set alongside a vast range of beige, biscuit, ecru, manilla, buff, snuff, and other soft neutrals were often playfully and surprisingly used for elaborate embellishments. Drape in truly couture ways was used to wrap and encircle the body, to emphasise and conceal, her clothes created by a woman for women often failed to excite those who’s ideal was flamboyant, overstated, and attention grabbing. Maria Grazia respected that above all for the pret a porter this is the ready to wear collection of a luxury house. That it is not the era of extravagance at a time of “buy better buy less,” of fashion placed within a world with many political and economic problems and where war is continuing.
The interesting thing is that by her applauding and championing of women and her use of restrained romanticism her clothes reflected the real world, they appealed to the Dior clients and will, perhaps above all, stand the test of time.
I was privileged to see every couture collection, and many pret a porter and cruise collection, to hold the clothes in my hand, to pass along the rails and examine the pieces. I understood why women purchased whilst social media pundits were unimpressed. The Dior influences from 1947 onwards could be a sleeve, a client like Marlene Dietrich or a sliver of embroidery. Yet above all she took the stuffing out of Dior, the construction, and the elaborate underpinnings. Clothes made in the 1950’s during the Dior heyday were severely constructed, Maria Grazia took them and lightened them, made them appear modern and easy; glamorous, elegant, romantic, stylish, beautiful but modern.
Maria Grazia Chiuri was the first woman to lead the House of Dior, during those nine years we had a global pandemic which literally shut down fashion, recession was fluctuating, but during it all we saw her philosophy of fashion in everything from shoes to handbags, with many a millinery confection with Stephen Jones. We watched as she remained true to her vision of Dior and her beliefs and her attitudes and approaches to the house. Speaking purely for myself I have loved much of her work, I have seen some beautiful shows and exquisite pieces, for which I am eternally grateful. No designer can appeal to everybody, hence the range of fashion names out there, but experience, integrity and intelligence underpinned her work. Her vision was hers, and as she exits applause is the only possible response, and to wish her well in whatever the future may hold.
Later,
Tony Glenville
