Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Final Dior Act Was a Ghostly, Glittering Dream Set in Rome

Maria Grazia Chiuri may have been saying goodbye — though Dior won’t confirm — but she wasn’t going quietly. For what may be her last collection at the helm of Dior, Chiuri brought the house back to her birthplace. Rome. Not the chaotic, postcard version, but the Rome of faded aristocracy, half-remembered film stills, and surrealist dreams that hang in the air like cigarette smoke in an old Cinecittà dressing room.

The show unfolded inside the haunting Villa Albani Torlonia, cloaked in nightfall, mist, and cinematic drama. Think: fog machines, sudden rain, ghostly figures in cream costumes drifting through antique ruins — all captured in a short film by Matteo Garrone, whose collaboration with Chiuri felt more like a séance than fashion promo. You half-expected Anita Ekberg to rise from the fountain in full Dior.

Chiuri knows spectacle. But here, she traded the glossy pomp for something more atmospheric — a hypnotic nod to Rome’s complicated romance with cinema and costume. Using pieces from legendary atelier Tirelli, some of the looks weren’t just inspired by movie heroines, they were their costumes — lovingly remade for the runway. “The Age of Innocence” met “Death in Venice” met “La Dolce Vita” in a carousel of lace, velvet, and silhouettes that slipped between Renaissance ghosts and ’90s icons.

There were slipdresses with scalloped beadwork that felt like relics from a forgotten ball. Capes trimmed in liquid gold fringe. Military-cut coats over sheer gowns. Tailoring so sharp it whispered Marlene Dietrich. The palette was disciplined — cream, black, blood-red — but nothing about the collection felt restrained. It was pure theatre, in every sense.

Ahead of the show, guests were ushered into Chiuri’s other Roman love: the restored Teatro della Cometa. Inside, a tableau vivant paid homage to the Bal Blanc of 1930 — everyone dressed in strict black and white, guests included. Rosamund Pike called it “a production,” Alexandra Daddario called it “a relief.” It was a lookbook-meets-performance-meets farewell party, complete with Natalie Portman and Sarah Catherine Hook playing their parts in white gowns like lost Visconti protagonists.

Backstage, the rumors swirled. Jonathan Anderson has been confirmed as Dior’s new menswear designer. Is women’s next? No one says it out loud. But if this was Chiuri’s last bow, she made it count. Nine years in, she’s tripled revenues, redefined what modern femininity can look like, and turned Dior from museum piece to movement.

Yes, some looks got swallowed by the size of the production — that’s the gamble with grandeur. But Maria Grazia has always known her audience. This was for the women who crave myth with their fashion. Who dress not just for the mirror, but for the role they’re playing that day.

Rome wasn’t just a backdrop. It was the co-star. The theater. The costume. The closing credits.

And Chiuri? She didn’t just stage a show. She wrote her own ending.