Exclusive interview with Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri

The maison’s artistic director explains her vision of femininity

dior_mariagraziachiuri_interview_theweek_portfolio_portrait.jpg

Many years ago, Maria Grazia Chiuri had a chance encounter with someone in whose footsteps she was destined to follow. During a visit to Paris’ Hotel Costes, she spotted a familiar face in the canopied courtyard: Yves Saint Laurent. The bespectacled couturier had long been a hero of Chiuri’s, so she mustered the courage to introduce herself. Touched by her kind words, the notoriously shy Saint Laurent responded with a simple but heartfelt "thank you". Relating this story today, Chiuri can’t help but smile. It sounds like serendipity but perhaps her future was written in the stars: Saint Laurent joined Christian Dior’s Parisian maison as the designer’s assistant in 1955, becoming head designer aged just 22; Chiuri was announced as artistic director almost six decades later, becoming the first female designer to lead the brand in its 70-year history. Both trailblazers, therefore, at different ends of the Dior genealogy.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More