It has just been known that Silvia Venturini Fendi gives her post at the creative tip of the Roman fashion house, the rumor mill is already bubbling over a possible successor. A topic that came up about a year ago with the departure of Kim Jones, who supervised the Womenswear.
After the brand, which belongs to the French luxury goods group LVMH last week, presented its new Womenswear collection in Milan, Fendi announced the appointment of the previous creative chief as honorary president on Monday evening. In the same breath, speculation about the new creative direction began.
The former Marni creative director Francesco Risso is to be considered, reports the WWD specialist magazine based on sources. In addition, there are also discussions with Maria Grazia Chiuri and Willy Chavarria.
Neither Fendi nor LVMH have commented on the current time. The fashion house only announced on Monday that a new creative organization for Fendi will be announced in due course.
Does Grazia Chiuri return to Fendi?
It would be a return to the Fendi for the Italian designer Grazia Chiuri. The former artistic director of Dior, who handed over her scepter to Jonathan Anderson after ten years in office, worked together with Pierpaolo Piccioli for the fashion house at the end of the 90s before both switched to Valentino and later shared the creative direction of the Italian fashion house. In 2016 Grazia Chiuri then moved to the Dior brand, whose fashion division like Fendi belongs to the LVMH Group. Rumors that she could take over at Fendi came up in May.
Meanwhile, Risso has almost ten years of experience at the creative tip of Marni. He was the second creative director of the Italian brand and took over the management of the founder Consuelo Castiglioni in 2016, which could help him take over for Silvia Venturini Fendi.
The rumors about Chavarria as a new Fendi design manager are not new and have been circulating since June. In contrast to the other potential rates: the inside of the Mexican-Irish-born designer dealt with his brand of the same name since its foundation in 2015. For this he has already received several awards, among other things with the CFDA Award as a menswear designer of the year. He is currently one of the finalists of the Andam Fashion Award 2025.
But if you really take over the creative direction at Fendi, you will remain waiting for the time being.