Maria Grazia Chiuri has chosen one other historic residence with a spectacular backyard for her upcoming Dior cruise present in Rome.
After staging the annual show at Scotland’s picturesque Drummond Fort final yr, she’s going to unveil her cruise 2026 assortment on Could 27 at Villa Albani Torlonia, an 18th-century complicated that homes an unlimited assortment of Greek and Roman antiquities.
Constructed by architect Carlo Marchionni on an expanse of countryside planted with vines and leveled into terraces, the villa was created to deal with the gathering of Cardinal Alessandro Albani, a number one artwork patron of his day.
The privately owned location stays one thing of a thriller even to locals, as it may well solely be visited by appointment and pictures is prohibited. It has hardly ever been used for trend occasions.
Fashions on the runway on the Dior cruise 2025 present held at Drummond Fort.
WWD by way of Getty Pictures
“This extraordinary villa, a secret treasure trove of historic Roman wonders, will exceptionally — and for the primary time — open its gates to host the Dior 2026 cruise present. The class of the silhouettes dreamed up by Maria Grazia Chiuri will shine inside this excellent cradle of neoclassicism,” Dior mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday.
Born and raised within the Everlasting Metropolis, the designer spent her early profession working for Rome-based manufacturers Fendi and Valentino. Regardless of her formidable workload as Dior’s inventive director of ladies’s collections, Chiuri has additionally taken on a private undertaking: restoring a historic theater in her hometown.
The Teatro della Cometa, or Comet Theater, went darkish throughout the pandemic and the designer bought the 250-seat, horseshoe-shaped venue with a purpose to give it a second life.
She has beforehand designed costumes for ballet performances in Rome, however this shall be her first Dior present within the Italian capital. Earlier this yr, she offered an exhibition on Nineteenth-century feminine vacationers on the Vatican Apostolic Library.
Hypothesis is rife that it could possibly be Chiuri’s swansong present for Dior after 9 years on the helm.
Former Loewe artistic director Jonathan Anderson has succeeded Kim Jones as Dior’s menswear designer and can current his first assortment for the French home in June. As the posh sector weathers a pointy slowdown in development, he seems poised to additionally take over the ladies’s division.
Maria Grazia Chiuri
YongHee Lee/WWD
