Fiorucci was an amazing store in New York City in the early 80s. Everyone who was somebody stopped and shopped there. Here is a short article that describes what it was like. I performed for their 10th Anniversary Party at the legendary Studio 54 Club. I came down from the ceiling to a packed house of major, major celebrities… What an amazing time! Oh yeah, there was a little known act who sang her first club song, and I can barely remember her name… I think it was Madonna.. Lol. And yes, Madonna was MY opening act! Read on.... ------//// From Packet-Biweekly’s Fashion Special Issue Fiorucci: A Love Letter “He wears the finest clothes, the best designers, heaven knows Ooo, from his head down to his toes Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci, he looks like a still That man is dressed to kill.” – Sister Sledge “The Greatest Dancer” To most people, the name Fiorucci doesn’t conjure the same high fashion imagery as Halston and Gucci. The brand was barely active in New York for a decade, operating from 1976-1988, yet in this short time Fiorucci changed the face of retail forever. Fioruccioperated as the first lifestyle store in New York, serving a stark contrast from the square shopping experience at Bloomingdale’s down the street. The brilliance behind the brand came from their ability to reimagine basic clothing styles with innovative patterns and textures. Dresses came in PVC, cropped sweaters featured arcade slogans, and athletic sneakers were stacked on giant platforms. “Nothing in Fiorucci is really original, except that it all is. Everything comes from something or somewhere else. The Fiorucci trends follow “mass culture facts”: the emergence of rock music, the ecology movement, a seductive political cause.”- Enio Fiorucci Enio Fiorucci, the brand’s founder, worked with his father in a shoe shop in Milan. Inspired by the youth movements in London and New York, he decided to liven the store up by making bright neon rainboots. They were an instant hit and the backbone forFiorucci was created. Pre-street style, Fiorucci employed taste making club kids to report back on the trends in Italy and abroad. He was one of the first person to develop jeans with Lycra, and popularized leopard print clothing, after discovering the work of Elsa Schapiarelli. Fiorucci had a knack for responding to trends and making them his own. He might not have invented cowboy boots, but he was the first to gold them in metallic gold. He created some of the first collaborations lines, scoring a lucrative and popular licensing deal with Disney. Although their price points weren’t necessarily cheap, they offered small knick knacks like stickers, posters, and keychains so that everyone could take a piece of Fiorucci back with them. Fiorucci understood the power of ubiquity as advertisement, and used these small goods to get the Fiorucci name out and about, opting out of traditional ad campaigns. Marc Jacobs, who frequented the store often during his summers off of school, used this same branding concept for his Marc by Marc line. Fiorucci didn’t just sell clothes — it served as a pre-Internet watering hole, where trends could be dissected, printed matter could be read, and connections made. Developing day time sanctuaries where new forms can be created, distributed, and talked about is vital to any creative community. Fiorucci served as this kind of hub. This was where you could hear the latest tracks by Kid Creole and the B52′s before the blogosphere. This was where you could grab the first issue of Paper Magazine, as it premiered on Fiorucci’s shelves. This crucial energy epitomizes the difference between a fashion brand and a fashion line. Fiorucci didn’t just have the hippest clients, they also had the hippest sales team. The opera singer Klaus Nomi worked the floor selling their skin tight denim. The jeans were often so tight that clients would be force to strip and lie on the ground, while the salespeople would pull the pants on for you (that’s service.) He and store manager Joey Arias were plucked off the sales floor by David Bowie himself. They sang background on his SNL performances of “The Man Who Sold the World” and “Boys Keep Swinging.” Arias remains a beloved performer and artist, active in the New York scene. Terry Jones served as one of the creative directors for the store, while he worked on his burgeoning magazine i-D at night. One can see Fiorucci’s high energy influence in the original stapled edges of i-D. Working at Fiorucci meant that he not only had access to latest trends to write about, but also to the stars that would define the look of the 1980′s. Jones saw Madonna perform at the store’s anniversary in 1984, at Studio 54. Man Parrish was the headline act and came down from the ceiling. Madonna was the opening act, and Jones offered her her first magazine cover. Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone worked at Fiorucci, where she conveniently scored her famous rubber brand bracelets (hopefully on a discount, considering how many wore at a time.) They were made by the artist Maripol, under her label Maripolitan Popular Objects. Maripol worked as the art director for Fiorucci in the early 80′s, linking her with Madonna, cementing a style collaboration that would define the look of the decade. No doubt Maripol was used to seeing the most stylish people in the whole world coming into the store, and Madonna’s career instantly benefited from her style advice. Outside of her talent for fashion, she was also a celebrated photographer who collaborated with artists like Andy Warhol. Warhol himself signed the first copies of Interview Magazine at Fiorucci’s, and was even responsible for some of the window displays. Truman Capote came to the store to sign books as well. Even after it’s heyday, Fiorucci disproved the notion that fashion is a vapid, materialistic art form. The writer, artist, and social archivist Douglas Coupland’s high school visit to the store inspired a lifelong dedication to the arts. Though he couldn’t afford more than a postcard, the energy in the store shaped his artistic vision for years to come. Coupland revisited the postcard, which featured Twiggy collaged among hyper colored tigers, in one of his early installations. Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf both started their careers with art shows at Fiorucci. Haring was even flown out to to the Milan flagship to live paint the store. Ruben and Isabel Toledo got their introduction to the art world selling their work at the postcard kiosk inside. “Fiorucci nightmare, asshole’s dream Spend all your money on the fashion machine Spots and stripes and spandex pants Pay a hundred dollars to learn how to dance Spend fifty dollars on a sweater Think it’s gonna make you look better See how tight your pants will fit. What you gonna do when they start to split?” – Teen Idles, “Fiorucci Nightmare” The split of Fiorucci was the result of business deals gone awry, but in the decade that it ruled 59th Street, it changed the modern shopping experience. You see a DJ in a store? That’s Fiorucci. Fashions Night Out? Fiorucci was like that during the day, everyday. Attempts have been made to revive the brand, most recently with Naomi Campbell launching a new line of Fiorucci jeans alongside the iconic cherub print shirts. But like a great party, the main ingredient was the people. Bringing together the best in every field, from graphic design to the charm needed to get someone to try their first pair of skin tight denim, Fiorucci created a template for the modern fashion brand. Combining the worlds of art, fashion, music, and commerce is nothing new in today’s retail landscape but it was Fiorucci who did it first, and many could argue best.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 01:21:20 +0000