Elio Fiorucci

Elio Fiorucci was born in Milan and was one of six children, two of them boys.[1] The family escaped to the countryside during the war, returning afterwards to continue running the family shoe shop and manufacturing business.[1]

Fiorucci started working in his father's shop when he was 14, becoming a full-time worker there at 17.[1] In 1962, Fiorucci created his first successful design – a brightly coloured waterproof overshoe. The design was featured in the Italian magazine Amica and earned him enough money to go travelling. His travels included a visit to London, then a hotbed of young fashion, and he was said to have been surprised and also influenced by the dynamic retailing approaches found in Carnaby Street and Kensington Market.[1] Later he would say: "That creative chaos represented a new deal, free from the pressures of formal dressing and elegance".[4]

After returning to Milan, he opened his first shop in 1967.[5] This was located in the Galleria Passarella and targeted a much younger clientele than was typical for Italian retailing of the time. Fiorucci stocked London designers such as Ossie Clark, as well as the typical hippie uniform of Afghan coat.[1] The store became an eclectic mix of eccentricities – everything from rag rugs and kettles to hair products and clothing.[3] The interior of the store was designed by Amalia Del Ponte.[6]

The exotic market-style approach he'd seen in Kensington Market was added to, with Fiorucci using the fashion inspiration he'd gained in his travels to places such as Mexico and Ibiza, as well as being inspired by the London scene.[1][7]

He created his own label in 1970.[5] While he was considerably older than his target market – the teenage and young shopper – he employed young fashion scouts internationally to report back on what young people were wearing and discover different products and designs that could be incorporated into his manufacturing. The distinctive logo he chose for Fiorucci was two less than saintly looking Victorian cherubs in sunglasses.[1] The clothing he manufactured was affordable and often kitsch – such as bright coloured T-shirts featuring his trademark cherub motif or Disney characters.[4]

The store was distinctively different and radical for the time and grew to become what Fiorucci himself would describe as: "an amusement park of novelties". A second store opened in Milan's Via Torino – it included a fast-food restaurant and became a place for young people to see and be seen. By this stage, Fiorucci had financial backing from the Montedison group.[1]

In 1976, the Fiorucci brand was taken to New York, with a retail store on East 59th Street. Its interior was part designed by Ettore Sottsass and it became part of the ascendent disco culture – the opening party was held at Studio 54 and Fiorucci chartered a jumbo jet to fly in his Italian guests.[1] Like his Milan stores, this became a place for people to hang out and the store offered free espresso and music from resident DJs – it became known as the daytime Studio 54 because of the disco crowd that gathered there.[8]

Fiorucci became friendly with Andy Warhol and gave him a free office in the store in order to set up Interview. Warhol described the store as fun, saying: "That's all I ever wanted, all plastic".[1] Fiorucci also offered wall space to artist Keith Haring and gave retail concessions to designers Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson.[1] Famous patrons included Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Onassis and Cher, and the teenage Marc Jacobs also spent time there.[7][3]

It has been said that garments were the least important part of Fiorucci's success. Instead, it was the retail ambience and branding – he was an early adopter of the outrageous advertising campaign and even had the stickers for one monokini campaign seized by the Italian police.[1]

His most significant introductions was in jeans, which he cut close to the body and to fit women's shape. From 1982, his denims incorporated lycra, and he also made jeans in other materials, including vinyl.[1] The skintight – almost spray-on – look he created was said to have been inspired by the sight of women in Ibiza in wet jeans; Fiorucci, having noted that they fitted women's bodies better when wet, decided to recreate the effect, and his designs left little to the imagination.[7][4]

He helped to popularise animal prints in 1970s and early '80s fashion – his trademark was leopard-print – although he himself was a vegetarian and never used leather in his jeans or other garments.[7][11][1]

Fiorucci's influence on the disco scene was strong; his New York art director also styled the then rising star Madonna.[1] Later, at the brand's 15th anniversary party in Studio 54, it was Madonna who agreed to jump out of the birthday cake.[8][4] Fiorucci's brand had a name check – alongside Halston and Gucci – in the Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers song "He's the Greatest Dancer", a disco anthem sung by Sister Sledge.[1]

An obituary on the BBC Radio 4 programme Last Word (first broadcast on 18 August 2015) interviewed fashion curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum Sonnet Stanfill, who suggested Elio Fiorucci helped to make fashion a lot less formal – transforming jeans into fashion that could be worn day or evening. She added that his design skills encompassed not just fashion but also retail environment and marketing materials, which combined to make the garments more compelling. Graphic designer Terry Jones suggested that his approach had a direct influence on fashion brands that followed, such as Dolce & Gabbana and Moschino.[12]

Despite the flamboyance of the clothes and retail environments he created, Fiorucci's personal style was restrained – typically sweater and trousers – and he told WWD in 1976, in an interview about the opening of his Manhattan store that he was: "a merchant, not a man of fashion".[3] He married twice and had three daughters.[4]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Elio Fiorucci

• Love Therapy website
• Last Word obituary on BBC Radio 4