As fashion fans may have heard, Fiorucci is currently being rebooted for a new generation. The rebirth will be led by new owners Stephen and Janie Schaffer who have taken over the company in 2015 shortly after founder Elio Fiorucci died.
Yet, relaunching the brand may be tricky without Elio's early brilliant ideas (stretch denim is an invention attributed to him) and crazy visuals from the '80s created in collaboration with cool creative minds, like the images for his iconic Panini sticker album infused with Memphis Milano references (absolutely one of the best sticker collections produced in those times; it sold around 100 million packets of stickers in just a few months turning into an '80s cult).
The reboot has materialised as a capsule collection - including archive hand-painted denim jackets, bombers, dungarees, graphic T-shirts and sweatshirts like the ones with the Fiorucci cherubs (free personalization is also possible on some garments) - launched as pop-up store at London's Selfridges (3rd floor -women's denim studio). The relaunch will continue with a 4,000-square-feet Soho store that will open in London in September.
The collection mainly features clothes, so, unfortunately, it doesn't include Fiorucci's scarves or bags (they were desirable and indestructible fashion pieces...) and they don't seem to have thought about affordable pieces of knitwear that were part of the Fiorucci offer (yes, we are going towards the Spring/Summer season, but the knitted offer can include summery pieces as well...). Yet each piece comes with a reproduction of a Fiorucci Panini sticker (did they read our post from 2010?).
New owners hope this will be an optimistic reboot, revolving around fun disco themes. But things may be a bit trickier than expected, Fiorucci was a brand and a live in-store experience and the fun and craziness of the original stores can not be easily recreated, plus there are other conceptual shops favoured by fashionistas (Colette, Dover Street Market, 10 Corso Como, Opening Ceremony...), not to mention online shopping.
Besides, there doesn't seem to be any need for more denim trousers or Fiorucci-inspired clothes as there are enough garments out there already copying, reinventing or paying homage to the brand (even Valentino's Pre-Fall 2016 collection was inspired by Elio Fiorucci while D&G included in their S/S 2010 menswear collection T-shirts with prints of iconic Fiorucci posters).
The saddest thing about this reboot, though, is that even Selfridges mispelt Elio Fiorucci's name in one of the descriptions of the garments included in this collection. In a way, they do not seem to have a clue about what they're selling.
Nostalgic about Fiorucci? In this post you find some images of Panini stickers, and a pair of over the top fur trimmed gold leather clogs that were on sale at Fiorucci in Milan in 1972 (they look rather "daytime Studio 54", as they used to call New York's Lexington Avenue Fiorucci shop...). Guess a reboot may bring back a print, a style, an iconic logo or graphic design, but it will never bring back the wearable Pop Art fun and the good times.
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