Cover In 2025, the absence of female creative directors at major fashion houses sparks urgent questions about equality, vision and the future of design leadership
In 2025, the absence of female creative directors at major fashion houses sparks urgent questions about equality, vision and the future of design leadership
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Fashion has long been viewed as a stage for women where body, soul and personal aspirations discover their own language. On the runway, every step and every fold of fabric can give voice to what cannot be spoken. Yet, when the backstage lights blaze on, the first sketches are approved and the strategic vision is set, most of the creative directors and decision-makers are men.
In May 2025, Maria Grazia Chiuri stepped down from Dior after nearly a decade of defining milestones. She was the first woman ever to hold the role of creative director in the house’s almost 80-year history. Her departure prompted a quiet but pressing question: where are the women at the helm of creativity? Not long afterwards, Jonathan Anderson was named her successor. With that appointment, high fashion closed the door on a fleeting chapter in which a woman occupied the top creative role at one of the world’s most influential brands.
Names such as Phoebe Philo and Clare Waight Keller recall an era when a woman’s presence in fashion was a mindset, a design philosophy and the authority to shape the narrative. Looking back now, it is perhaps their absence that makes the question feel more urgent than ever.
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Honouring women but restricting their rights
The roster of those creative directors leading prestigious brands, from Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton, Jonathan Anderson at Dior, Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent and Alessandro Michele at Valentino, to Matthieu Blazy at Chanel and Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga, reveals just how few women hold key creative positions.
Above From left to right: Sarah Burton (currently creative director at Givenchy, formerly in the same role at Alexander McQueen), Miuccia Prada (Prada), Louise Trotter (Bottega Veneta), Veronica Leoni (Calvin Klein), Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski (Hermès), Chemena Kamali (Chloé): rare figures who currently, or once, wielded creative authority at major houses
From left to right: Sarah Burton (currently creative director at Givenchy, formerly in the same role at Alexander McQueen), Miuccia Prada (Prada), Louise Trotter (Bottega Veneta), Veronica Leoni (Calvin Klein), Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski (Hermès), Chemena Kamali (Chloé): rare figures who currently, or once, wielded creative authority at major houses
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The paradox becomes sharper when set against the fact that women account for around 75–80 per cent of the global workforce in the garment and fashion sector (Global Fashion Agenda, 2024). At renowned institutions such as Central Saint Martins in London or Parsons in New York, the majority of graduates are also female. Yet the further up the ladder one looks, the fewer women remain, until only a handful reach the peak of the power structure, or none at all.
Even in arenas that claim fairness, such as the LVMH Prize for Young Designers, gender gaps remain. In 2024, only one-third of winners were women; by 2025, that share had dropped to just 25 per cent.
Above The eight finalists for the LVMH Prize 2025: only two women, Tolu Coker and Torisheju, with the remainder overwhelmingly male
The eight finalists for the LVMH Prize 2025: only two women, Tolu Coker and Torisheju, with the remainder overwhelmingly male
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Alongside the imbalance of power, the gender pay gap is another persistent issue. According to the 2024 report, women in fashion earn between 20 per cent and 27 per cent less than men in equivalent roles.
Male-biased systems and the lack of female voices
The question is far from new, yet it never loses its urgency. Why, in an industry where women are both the main consumers and the majority of the workforce, do they remain absent from positions of real authority? Fashion has long been regarded as a women’s domain. Yet a closer look at the power structures reveals a different truth. At the top of organisational charts, men still occupy most key roles. This is not due to any lack of talent among women, but because the pathways to those roles were never designed with them in mind.
Many sociologists highlight an uncomfortable reality. From education to hiring practices and corporate culture, these systems operate on a foundation shaped by male dominance. Despite its reputation for creativity and innovation, fashion is no exception. Conversations about gender often linger on surface-level imagery, while the core power centres where strategy and vision are formed remain firmly rooted in tradition.
Above Jonathan Anderson at the closing ceremony of the Dior Men Spring Summer 2026 show, his first since succeeding Maria Grazia Chiuri. That a man replaced the sole woman who led creative direction at Dior underlines how power in the industry continues to function unchanged: women’s voices are heard briefly, then replaced (photo: Pascal Le Segretain)
Jonathan Anderson at the closing ceremony of the Dior Men Spring Summer 2026 show, his first since succeeding Maria Grazia Chiuri. That a man replaced the sole woman who led creative direction at Dior underlines how power in the industry continues to function unchanged: women’s voices are heard briefly, then replaced (photo: Pascal Le Segretain)
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Behind closed doors, in private meetings and through informal networks, influence circulates predominantly within male-dominated circles. Women, regardless of their talent, face significant hurdles entering these spaces without strong sponsorship or the resilience to break through invisible barriers.
The consequence is a severe limitation on women’s input in creative decisions. The irony is striking: who better understands women than women themselves? Women’s fashion encompasses more than garments; it represents bodies, freedom of expression and a diverse beauty that defies outdated stereotypes. By sidelining women in leadership, the industry diminishes the authenticity of its own creative language.
Above The “We Should All Be Feminists” T-shirt from Dior’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection became an emblem of Chiuri’s tenure, signalling that female voices can be both graceful and powerful within haute couture (photo: FASHIONGONEROUGE)
Above The slogan “What If Women Ruled the World?” appeared on the Dior Spring-Summer 2020 runway, a collaboration between Chiuri and artist Judy Chicago, as one of several feminist gestures on the catwalk (photo: Kevin Tachman)
The “We Should All Be Feminists” T-shirt from Dior’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection became an emblem of Chiuri’s tenure, signalling that female voices can be both graceful and powerful within haute couture (photo: FASHIONGONEROUGE)
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It’s time for a change
The fashion world is full of gifted women. What it lacks is a system fair enough to recognise them and empower their leadership. Designers such as Simone Rocha, Molly Goddard, and established names who have shaped brand identities like Natacha Ramsay-Levi and Clare Waight Keller demonstrate that women are more than capable of creative leadership. What remains missing is trust and genuine opportunity.
The scarcity of female creative directors goes beyond gender equality. It limits vision, inspiration and the identity of brands. When women take charge, fashion grows richer, more intimate and more sincere to those it serves. After all, fashion was born of women and must do more to empower them.
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