"Community and Conversation": Maria Grazia Chiuri's Fendi Debut

"There was no ego. I remember that at the time we spoke all as plural. 'We think. We did.' Community. A conversation.' These recollections of working with the five Fendi sisters—Alda, Anna, Carla, Franca and Paola—shaped Chiuri's understanding of collaborative design and collective creativity that now defines her return to the house."

"Chiuri has begun her own conversation with Fendi again. In a full-circle moment, 18 or so months after we spoke, she's returned to the house - Autumn/Winter 2026 marks her debut. Last time, she was helping to oversee accessories, beginning as a 24 year old in 1989. Today, she's installed in the newly created role of chief creative officer, giving her purview over that entire Roman empire."

"Thinking back to those ideas of community and conversation, she called her debut collection Less I, More Us - an expression of the collective nature of ateliers and design studio that underpin any fashion undertaking, but also especially evocative of the family at the heart of Fendi."

Maria Grazia Chiuri has returned to Fendi as chief creative officer, marking a significant full-circle moment in her career. She previously worked at Fendi for a decade starting in 1989 as a 24-year-old overseeing accessories, before moving to Valentino. Her debut collection for Autumn/Winter 2026, titled 'Less I, More Us,' reflects the collaborative spirit she experienced under Karl Lagerfeld's leadership and the five Fendi sisters who emphasized community over ego. Now operating from Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome, Chiuri oversees the entire creative direction of the house, bringing her philosophy of collective design and conversation to the Roman fashion empire.

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