Fiorucci

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Fiorucci Design Office S.r.l.
Type Subsidiary
Founded Milan (1967)
Founder Elio Fiorucci
Headquarters Milan, Italy
Industry Fashion
Products Clothing, eyewear
Owner Edwin Co., Ltd
Website www.fiorucci.it

Fiorucci is an Italian fashion label founded by Elio Fiorucci in 1967. The first shop exposed Milan to the styles of Swinging London and American classics such as the T-shirt and jeans. By the late 1970s and early 1980s this would be reversed, and the New York store would become famous for the fashions it introduced to the United States. Known as the "daytime Studio 54",[1] it attracted trendsetters from Andy Warhol to a young Madonna.[1]

As a leader in the globalisation of fashion Fiorucci would scour the globe, introducing a newly affluent mass market to underground trends such as thongs from Brazil and Afghan coats. The label popularised camouflage prints and leopard-skin prints before creating the designer jean market with the invention of stretch jeans.[1] The iconic advertising usually featured a woman's buttocks in skin-tight denim, or in one case obscured by pink fluffy handcuffs, whilst the company logo is two cheeky angels modelled after Raphael's cherubs. However mismanagement of the company led to receivership in 1989, since when the brand has been dogged by legal battles over the trademarks, and several relaunches have failed to make much impact.

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[edit] Early years

Elio Fiorucci was born in Milan on 10 June 1935, son of a shoe shop owner. One day in 1962, Elio came up with the idea of making galoshes in bright primary colours whilst working at his father's shop. When they were featured in a local weekly fashion magazine, the galoshes caused a sensation. Following a trip to London in 1965, Elio was determined to bring Carnaby Street fashions to Milan. He opened his first shop on Galleria Passerella in Milan on 31 May 1967 selling clothes by London designers such as Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes.

In 1968 Fiorucci looked East for inspiration, buying cheap T-shirts from India, and turning rice sacks into bags.[2] Two years later the company set up its own manufacturing plant, and adopted the "two angels" logo created by Italo Lupi.[2] In 1974 the company opened a huge new store on Via Torino in Milan, expanding beyond fashion to offer books, furniture and music.[2] The new shop also had a performance area, vintage clothing market, and restaurant,[2] and was financed by an investment from the Standa department stores, part of the Montedison group. Meanwhile the label introduced the monokini and thong from Brazil, causing controversy with the topless photos used to advertise them.[2] Glass beads from New Mexico were another hit.[2] In 1975 the company opened its first store overseas, in the Kings Road in London, and launched a children's collection called Fioruccino.[2] It brought Afghan coats to the mass market, and popularised the leopard-skin prints[2] first created by Elsa Schiaparelli two decades before.

[edit] Heyday

The 1976 opening of the store next to Bloomingdale's, on East 59th Street in New York,[2] introduced the brand to American trendsetters during the disco age. Customers such as Marc Jacobs[1] Cher[1] and Terence Conran[1] would rub shoulders with Jackie Onassis[1] and Lauren Bacall[1], you might see drag queen Joey Arias serving the King of Spain,[3] or Calvin Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt buying some jeans.[1] Other employees included Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone, Terry Jones of i-D magazine fame and Oliviero Toscani who shot many of the famous Benetton adverts.[1]

Meanwhile, the company continued to bring new products to market, including a collection made from DuPont's new Tyvek fabric, and velvet slippers from China.[2] In 1978 they were the first fashion house to license their name for a collection of sunglasses, whilst in 1981 a Disney licence led to a highly successful range of clothes emlblazoned with Mickey Mouse.[2] Ever on the pulse of the times, Fiorucci sponsored the reunion of Simon and Garfunkel in The Concert in Central Park on 19 September 1981, attended by 400,000 people or more, and on the bill for their birthday party in 1983 was a then-unknown Madonna.[2] In 1982 the company launched the first stretch jeans with Lycra, and the success of the 5-pocket "Safety" jeans was recognised three years later in a licensing deal with Wrangler Jeans.[2] In 1987 Fiorucci produced the Junior Gaultier line designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier,[2] and in 1989 they went back to their roots with a deal with Vivienne Westwood, queen of the London street scene.[2]

The company expanded rapidly after 1978, launching new stores across the US, Europe and Asia. In 1981 Benetton bought Montedison's 50% stake in Fiorucci, which was reduced to 33.3% in 1986[4] when Elio Fiorucci brought in Iranian businessman Massimo Aki Nuhi (Akinouhi) as a third partner via his holding company Aknofin.[5] Benetton sold their remaining stake to Fiorucci and Aki Nuhi in August 1987.[5] Despite thriving sales, the company was dogged by poor management and had had to close the New York store in 1984; Betsey Johnson has suggested "Fiorucci was the most happening place. It never stopped being happening — it just left New York City, because I don't think New York City was happening enough by the mid-80's".[1] Fiorucci closed down the rest of the US retail locations in 1988 after a franchise dispute, moving instead to a wholesale strategy. The company went into administration in April 1989 following a dispute over the strategic direction of the firm that had seen Elio offer to buy out Aki Nuhi.[6]

[edit] Revival

The company was rescued by the Tacchella brothers of Italian jeans company Carrera S.p.A., who sold on the company to Japanese jeans group Edwin Co., Ltd for 45bn lire (~US$41m).[7] In January 1996 after a plea bargain, Elio Fiorucci was given a suspended jail sentence of 22 months for inflating the value of invoices to increase the value of the company to Carrera at the expense of his creditors.[8] Luciano Benetton was cleared of similar charges, on the grounds that he had not been involved at an operational level during his time (September 1985 - September 1987) on the board of Fiorucci.[9]

Originally Edwin planned to launch five stores in key cities like London,[7] but although they signed an initial deal on 4 June 1990 that was ratified that October, Edwin did not gain control of the Fiorucci assets until May 1992.[10] In fact they would later lose the rights to the Fiorucci name in Canada on the grounds of disuse.[10] However, one of Edwin's first acts was a deal with Coles Myer that would see 68 Fiorucci concessions in stores across Australia.[2] They opened a new store in Piazza San Babila, Milan in early 1993, that included a variety of branded boutiques.[11] It took them longer to get things going in North America, after a 1993 deal with Mary Ann Wheaton of Wheaton International[12] fell through. In 1995 they licensed the rights for eyewear in the US to Swan International Optical, and then opened a US office in September 1997.[13] However, the strategy of their licensee, Stephen Budd, to sell the brand into US department stores didn't work out[1] so in 1999 they announced a plan to open a New York store once again.[14] The initial plan was to open in time for Christmas 1999, but the store on lower Broadway finally opened its doors in June 2001.[1] Commentators such as Kim Hastreiter were sceptical that it could recapture the buzz of times past, given the increased competition in mass-market clubbing gear from the likes of H&M and The Limited.[1]

Meanwhile the brand continued to thrive in Europe, and regained some of its former notoriety in 1995 with a poster campaign for its jeans featuring a naked woman's buttocks and pink furry handcuffs, which became instant bestsellers.[2] In 1999 it launched a successful perfume, followed by a second, Fiorucci Loves You, in 2001, and "Miss Fiorucci" makeup in 2003.[2] Edwin have been aggressively expanding the brand throughout Asia, from Seoul to Tokyo and China.[2]

Although Elio Fiorucci retained creative control during the Edwin era, they are protective of the Fiorucci trademarks, and have taken legal action against H&M in the US when Elio designed their Poolside line. He has also set up a brand of his own called Love Therapy, and designed for Agent Provocateur.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Chaplin, Julia (2001), “Fiorucci: Once So Hot and Now, Can It Be Again?”, New York Times, 2001-06-10, <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/10/living/10FIOR.html>. Retrieved on 29 April 2008 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Memorabilia:Fiorucci's Steps. Fiorucci Design Office S.r.l. (2004). Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
  3. ^ Lahr, John, “Arias On Holliday”, The New Yorker: 46, 1994-08-22, <http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1994/08/22/1994_08_22_046_TNY_CARDS_000368311> 
  4. ^ “fallimento Fiorucci. Benetton " indagato "”, Corriere della Sera: 25, 1993-04-22, <http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1993/aprile/22/fallimento_Fiorucci_Benetton_indagato__co_0_9304221359.shtml>. Retrieved on 29 April 2008 
  5. ^ a b “Benetton returns share of Fiorucci to Nuova Italia”, Daily News Record, 1987-08-28 
  6. ^ “Elio Fiorucci is buying his partner's 50% stake”, WWD, 1989-02-06 
  7. ^ a b Bannon, Lisa, “Fiorucci plans collection, opening of 5 flagship stores”, WWD, 1991-02-01 
  8. ^ “Bancarotta. Condannato lo stilista Fiorucci”, Corriere della Sera: 45, 1996-01-20, <http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1996/gennaio/20/Bancarotta_Condannato_stilista_Fiorucci_co_7_9601201037.shtml>. Retrieved on 29 April 2008 
  9. ^ “Bancarotta: a giudizio Luciano Benetton”, Corriere della Sera: 11, 1996-02-23, <http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1996/febbraio/23/Bancarotta_giudizio_Luciano_Benetton_co_0_9602235655.shtml>. Retrieved on 29 April 2008 
  10. ^ a b Gamache, Barry (1995). Serious Intent To Resume Use of Trade-mark Must Be Found to Excuse Absence Of Use In Summary Expungement Case (PDF). Leger Robic Richard / Robic, Quebec. Retrieved on 2008-04-29. Discusses Canadian trademark case Edwin Company Ltd. v. 176718 Canada Inc., No. T-803-94, March 30, 1995; 60 CPR (3d) 464 (FCTD) in which Edwin appealed the 1994 loss of the rights to the Fiorucci name.
  11. ^ Forden, Sara Gay, Footwear News, 1993-11-08 
  12. ^ Gordon, Maryellen & White, Constance C.R., “Wheaton plans Fiorucci store comeback”, WWD, 1993-08-03 
  13. ^ Parr, Karen, WWD 
  14. ^ Cardona, Mercedes, “Fiorucci Dances Back Onto Scene: Italian Line That Ruled During Disco Returns To U.S. With Plans For Stores”, Advertising Age, 1999-05-31 

[edit] Further reading

  • Babitz, Eve, Fiorucci: The Book, Milan: Harlin Quist, distributed by Dial/Delacorte (published 1980), pp. 144, ISBN 978-0825226083  Published at the height of the label's influence, this book is now a sought-after record of the time, selling for US$100's.
  • Malossi, Giannino (1987), Liberi Tutti: 20 Anni di Moda Spettacolo, Milan: Lampi di Stampa (published October 2007), ISBN 978-8848806299  New edition of book originally published in 1987
  • Mulassano, Adriana, I Mass-moda: Fatti e Personaggi dell'Italian Look, Florence: Spinelli Editore (published 1979) 
  • Connikie, Yvonne, Fashions of a Decade: The 1960s, London: Batsford Ltd (published 1990-11-05), pp. 64, ISBN 978-0713464375  Also available in US editions

[edit] External links

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