Maria Grazia Chiuri Takes New Fendi Role to Los Angeles

Maria Grazia Chiuri has taken her new job at Fendi to Los Angeles.

The trip is her first official visit to the United States since returning to Fendi, the Italian house owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the French luxury group, as chief creative officer, the role in charge of design across its lines. It puts a designer with a long history at the house in front of American clients, press and actors.

Her appointment was revealed on Oct. 14, 2025, according to Women's Wear Daily. She now holds creative responsibility across womenswear, menswear, accessories and couture, the hand-made top end of fashion. Silvia Venturini Fendi, previously in the creative seat, has moved to honorary president.

It is a homecoming. Chiuri first joined Fendi in 1989. She worked there alongside Silvia Venturini Fendi on the Baguette bag, the small shoulder bag worn tucked under the arm. The house was founded by Adele and Edoardo Fendi and enlisted designer Karl Lagerfeld in 1965. It marked its centenary in 2025.

She left to build a long career elsewhere. Chiuri spent 17 years at Valentino, the Italian house, and nine years at Christian Dior, the French house. At Dior she was the first woman to lead its women's collections. She served as its creative director from 2016 to 2025 and exited in May before the Fendi appointment was announced.

Her first Fendi collection is due for Fall/Winter 2026 during Milan Fashion Week, the twice-yearly showcase in Milan, in February. For her debut Fall/Winter 2026-2027 show she revamped the Baguette, which was first launched in 1997, according to Numéro. Separately, the house said its Croissant bag returns from the archive and was scheduled to launch on Oct. 16 on its official channels, according to Fendi.

What makes this stand out for fans is the loop. A designer who helped shape a well known bag in the 1990s is now asked to shape the whole house. Los Angeles is an early test of how that story plays outside Italy.