Today, Lorde released Man Of The Year, her second single from the highly-anticipated Virgin album. The song is heart-and-gut-wrenching in the most Lorde way you can imagine: raw, vulnerable, unfiltered. By the time we reach the outro, Let’s hear it for the man of the year, there is a subtle shift from mourning to ecstatic celebration. The phrase is repeated like a sarcastic toast, both honoring and burying (burning alive!) the man who inspired the deep, painful turmoil. But ultimately, Man of the Year is not really about him. It is about Lorde reclaiming the narrative, re-emerging from ego death and heartbreak with sharpened clarity.

Quite coincidentally, it was officially announced today (after months of speculation) that Maria Grazia Chiuri is stepping down from Dior. Social media raved: finally!; fashion gods heard our prayers; the end of a nightmare. Voiced especially by men, you just can’t not agree with @lewissmag that there’s a tinge (or even plenty) of misogyny sparking that excitement of a woman departuring a maison like Dior after a decade of immense volume of work. A reminder that the fashion males, queer or not, had a very similar blast when Virginie Viard left Chanel. They were in heaven.

Now don’t get me wrong: I’ve never been a number one fan of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s work at Dior – just not my cup of tea, aesthetically. But I do realize that all the logo totes aren’t her sin: it’s in fact LVMH and Bernault Arnault’s endless financial insatiability that powered Dior’s horrific merchandise in the last decade. Just think of the once sophisticated and chic Dior boutique on Avenue Montaigne that now looks like a massive, tacky department store. It’s also not Chiuri’s fault. Unfortunately, creative directors really don’t have all the power when leading a brand.

What this female designer managed to make out of Dior is turning it into a brand that’s in a way similar to Giorgio Armani’s universe: you don’t have to follow it from season to season, because you won’t really see a revolution on the runway – but there’s always a beautiful dress, a great coat, a proper jacket. A continuity that has its rhyme and rhythm.

In a way, it seems to me that Maria Grazia Chiuri truly refound herself at the very end of her tenure at Dior. Her pre-fall 2025 show in Tokyo had a spark. Her swan song outing, for resort 2026, presented in the enchanting garden of Villa Albani Torlonia in Rome, was powerful in its grace. Those velvet column gowns are pure delights, just as the remarkable fur coats that are actually made from plume. The collection’s opening look, a masculine white tailcoat worn with a maxi-length, matching skirt, is the absolute essence of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s contribution to fashion, in past misguided by unfortunate styling or simply obscured under all the gimmicks of fashion show spectacles. This ideal, minimalist yet sumptuous simplicity was followed by many variations on the theme of the long, slim, semi-sheer dress. The lace effects were almost countless – 3D florals, rivulets of ruffles, leafy cut-outs, wavy art deco frills, gilded latticework covered with silken fringe. Underwear visible, shoes flat. A statement.

And then, the haute couture finale featuring caviar-beaded, trompe l’oeil-effect dresses that looked like statues dating back to Ancient Rome. Male statues, to be precise. Torsos, like armors (a theme moved very literally by Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton just a week ago). Going back to Lorde, Man Of The Year’s cover art is a Talia Chetrit photograph of the singer’s bust, covered with duct tape. Now, do you see the connection between these two?

Will Maria Grazia Chiuri return to fashion in the near future? Probably she will spend her time on cultural initiatives, like the Teatro Della Cometa she renovated and reopened to the public a couple of days ago. And who will lead Dior’s womenswear now? Probably Jonathan Anderson. Another M.O.T.Y.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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