Maria Grazia Chiuri has urged budding designers not to "stop dreaming".
Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli
The 53-year-old fashion designer - who was announced as the creative director of Christian Dior last year - believes the key to a creative mastermind's success is to aim high and not give up on their dream of breaking the fashion business.
Speaking to Vogue.com about her tips for the next generation of designers, the mogul said: " I think it's important that you believe in yourself and you dream. Even when it's difficult, don't stop dreaming. You have to believe in yourself to work hard and to learn to work with other people."
And the star thinks it is vital for a designer to strike up a "dialogue with women" and respect their customers if they hope to have longevity with their career.
Maria continued: "I think that a designer now is someone who has a dialogue with women, not someone that imposes a point of view. I can give my point of view, but the women can choose how they want to use, in a personal way, what I do.
"If you want to improve a brand you have to know your past and you have to find a balance between your past and your point of view to move the brand into the future."
Prior to helming the French luxury label the star worked at Valentino with Pierpaolo Piccioli, and Maria has admitted she found it "very fun" working with her former business partner.
She said: "It was very fun to work together; it was a beautiful adventure. There was an opportunity to test ourselves alone, and I think that was a good opportunity for both of us. I want to say that we work, and I work, in a team. The stereotype of the designer alone in a room, now, is not true . . . . There is a huge team at Dior."