Dior’s First Female Creative Director Gets Candid About Feminism

The first female creative director of Dior opened about about why she’s making feminism a force in the legendary French design house.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, who took the reigns at Dior last summer, sent a message with her debut show in September that feminism would be a focus at the brand under her leadership. There, she showed t-shirts that read “We should all be feminists” and paid homage to feminist writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Now, in a new interview with the Guardian, Chiuri further elaborates on why showcasing feminism is so important to her.

“When you are a woman making clothes for women, then fashion is not just about how you look,” she told the Guardian. “It is about how you feel and how you think.”

Chiuri, who has also worked for Fendi and Valentino, told the Guardian that she doesn’t have a specific definition of what feminism means to her. But when it comes to clothing, she wants to empower women to express themselves.

“I am not interested in the old stereotypes, of what a feminist looks like or doesn’t look like,” she said. “I don’t think there is one way to be a feminist.”

Read the full interview at the Guardian.