It’s day two of Milan Fashion Week, and all eyes are on Fendi’s Fall 2026 runway. Today’s show marks Maria Grazia Chiuri’s debut collection as chief creative officer, a role she accepted after nine years at the helm of Christian Dior.
It’s the sort of industry move that even casual fashion fans can appreciate from afar. So few women are tapped to lead the brands that set the biannual style agenda across the four major fashion capitals. (This Milan Fashion Week will also welcome Meryll Rogge to the head of Marni—another rare, and exciting, debut for a female designer.) Second, Chiuri’s appointment doubles as a homecoming for the Italian designer: She started her career at Fendi in 1989, when she was 24 years old.
Chiuri ended up working at the brand for a decade. (She left to join Valentino in 1999.) While there, she worked on some of its most recognizable, enduring pieces—mainly, the Baguette bag immortalized in Sex and the City’s third season. Accessories that resonate with It girls and the masses alike are pretty much guaranteed to appear in today’s show.
In early interviews, Chiuri hinted that runway isn’t just about unleashing the next Baguette onto the market: It’s about starting a new chapter in ready-to-wear, one that can compete with the other power players on the Milan and Paris Fashion Week calendars. “I synthesize my vision for Fendi in this show,” she told Vogue. “In the silhouette. In the shoes. For women and for men also—there will be some men in the show, too, absolutely, because we did the collections together.”
As an alum of the brand, Chiuri is sensitive to how she can carry the torch for the original Fendis: sisters Paola, Anna, Franca, Carla, and Alda, who were her mentors in the ’80s and ’90s. “I feel the responsibility to do a good job here so that [all the Fendis] can recognize themselves in the brand today,” she told WWD. “I want to pay tribute to them and for me this is an honor, and it has a sentimental value.”
Marie Claire is keeping close tabs on her homage to Fendi’s past and her plan for its future. Editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike is attending the Fall 2026 show in-person at Milan’s Spazio Fendi, while editors Halie LeSavage (that’s me!) and Ana Colón monitor the livestream from New York City. Follow along as we share our unfiltered thoughts on the new Fendi, as each look hits the runway.