FIORUCCI POST MODERN PUNK FASHION ICON POSTER BRUNO VIAPPIANI ARTIST ITALY 1979

Description

Elio Fiorucci
Born
10 June 1935
Milan, Italy
Died
19 July 2015 (aged 80)
Milan
Occupation
Fashion designer and retailer
Elio Fiorucci (Italian pronunciation: ; 10 June 1935 – 19 July 2015) was an Italian fashion designer and the founder of the Fiorucci fashion label.
Beginning in retailing at the age of 14, he later created a fashion brand that had worldwide success during the 1970s and 1980s, including becoming a key label of the disco-scene. The retail environments he created were destinations, rather than simply places to buy clothes; his New York store was known by some as the daytime Studio 54 and gave space to artists and creatives – including Andy Warhol.
Fiorucci is credited with designing and popularising stretch jeans, and for transforming the fashion scene. Giorgio Armani described him as a revolutionary, adding: "He was always ready to take some risks to really understand his time".
Early life and career
Elio Fiorucci was born in Milan and was one of six children, two of them boys. The family escaped to the countryside during the war, returning afterwards to continue running the family shoe shop and manufacturing business.
Fiorucci started working in his father's shop when he was 14, becoming a full-time worker there at 17. 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. Later he would say: "That creative chaos represented a new deal, free from the pressures of formal dressing and elegance".
Launch of retail brand
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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
New York store
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. 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.
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". Fiorucci also offered wall space to artist Keith Haring and gave retail concessions to designers Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson. Famous patrons included Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Onassis and Cher, and the teenage Marc Jacobs also spent time there.