The resurrection of Fiorucci was celebrated internationally. After the founder Elio Fiorucci died in July 2015 and the legendary brand almost died in 2014 after being acquired by the Japanese trading house Itochu, Janie Schaffer, British entrepreneur, creative personality and founder of the underwear brand Knickerbox, and her former husband and partner Stephen successfully revived Fiorucci in June 2015.
The official launch happened in February 2017, in New York, at Paul’s Casablanca nightclub, recreating a similar atmosphere when Elio met with eccentric artists like Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Madonna, Maripol and Keith Haring at Studio 54 between the 1970s and 1980s.
Here, Janie Schaffer, who bought the brand together with Stephen Schaeffer in 2015, explained some projects and strategies behind the relaunch of the iconic Italian brand.
White Milano, the contemporary fashion show to be held September 21-24, 2018 in Milan’s Zona Tortona area will host Fiorucci as Special Guest. Why did you choose to participate next White show?
We are very excited about it. Milan and our Italian heritage are very important to us and to be a part of White and to be sitting alongside great Italian brands again is a dream come true. Fiorucci was first born in Milan in 1967 so it seemed fitting to come back to its home for our first trade show.
Will you launch any special event, fashion show or capsule collection for the occasion?
We will not be putting on a special event but we will be selling an exclusive Fiorucci Angels “Milano” T-shirt which has been especially designed for our core Italian fans. It is a limited edition piece that will only be sold at the White Milano event. We will participate in White occupying two spaces, one of which will showcase our s/s 2019 collection for the very first time and the other is our first retail pop-up in Milan since the relaunch. Our retail space will be selling iconic Fiorucci core products (as well as our limited edition exclusive Angels tee) and will also show a small selection of seasonal merchandise. We’re excited to bring Fiorucci back to Milan.
Are you considering to further expand in Italy and Southern Europe?
We can’t wait to expand the business globally and of course come back to our Italian roots, but we have to make sure the time is right and the brand expansion happens perfectly. So it won’t be happening this year but watch this space in the future!
Will you open a flagship store in Milan? When and where?
We would absolutely love to open a new store in Milan and it is part of our plan for the future. We opened the store in London and the support and feedback has been amazing! So we can’t wait to do the same in Italy!
Are there any special plans you concentrate on for your further expansion?
We want to continue to focus on making the most of our rich heritage and expanding to a new consumer base who might not have previously known Fiorucci. While keeping the brand feeling fresh and new and continuing to carefully utilize our fabulous archive!
What of the past collections designed by Elio Fiorucci continues to be successful and modern in present days?
Fiorucci was most famous for pushing boundaries and being the first to try new things such as ultra skinny jeans, vinyl fabrications amazing branding and artwork. All of this continues to be successful today.
A few seasons after you relaunched the Fiorucci brand how is the collection evolving? And what is selling best?
Our true core products continue to be our bestsellers. The Fiorucci customer loves branding, artwork, graphics and excitement, so we will continue to make these areas fresh and directional.
What goals do you want to reach in the next few years?
We plan to grow in both mens- and womenswear and enter into to new global markets going forward.
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