Dior has confirmed the appointment of Maria Grazia Chiuri as the brand's artistic director,WWD reports. Chiuri, who stepped down from Valentino yesterday after eight years as creative director, becomes the first female and seventh couturier to take the helm at Dior. She succeeds Raf Simons, who previously held the position for three and a half years and exited in October 2015. (Dior's Spring 2016 Couture and Fall 2016 RTW were designed in-house.) "The fact that she's a woman, she has this approach of a woman. The eyes of a woman for Dior, for the woman's side, is important," said Sydney Tole