Fiorucci rebirth to begin as it returns to Milan under new exec and creative team

Fiorucci is beginning a new chapter following its sale late last year with the Italian brand having drawn a line under its period of British ownership and now returning to Milan.

Under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Alessandro Pisani and Creative Director Francesca Murri (whose experience spans Versace, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Givenchy and Ferragamo), the brand will “now undergo a process of creative reconstruction based in its original home of Milan and launch a new collection during Milan Fashion Week this September”.

And the reborn Fiorucci will be different in many ways from the label relaunched by its British owners a few years before the pandemic.

It had been acquired in 2015 by businesswoman Janie Schaffer (who founded the Knickerbox chain) and her business partner and ex-husband Stephen. They relaunched it in 2017 and in 2019 appointed Daniel W Fletcher as its menswear artistic director. He stepped down from the label last month.

It was then bought in 2022 by Swiss businesswoman Dona Bertarelli (who had been a minority stakeholder since 2017) with the aim of developing it as a higher-end Italian brand. And on Wednesday CEO Pisani underlined just how radical that evolution would be. 

For instance, focusing on quality, sustainability and creativity, prices will rise around 40% and new categories will be added, including shoes, eyewear, jewellery, and a major move in bags, an area in which Murri is also very experienced.

Pisani said: “Fiorucci is one of the greatest protagonists in the history of Italian fashion. Its founder Elio Fiorucci ignited a positive cultural disruption that democratised style across the world and became entwined with progressive popular art forms from visual arts to music. Our mission now is to revive that uniquely playful attitude and reshape its disruptive heritage in order to inspire a new generation”.

At the same time as the company announced this and the plan for the MFW show, it also ‘officially’ announced Bertarelli’s acquisition of the brand, which hadn’t been shared previously. It said that along with Pisani, the “investor, sportswoman and philanthropist, advocating for ocean protection, gender equality and inclusion… will accompany the brand on the next stage of its journey”.

Pisani — whose past experience includes senior positions at Ballantyne, Valentino and Diesel — has talked of accessible luxury and “an Italian point of view”.

STRONG HERITAGE

Elio Fiorucci, who died in 2015, had opened his store in Milan’s Galleria Passarella in 1967 after being inspired to bring the feel of London’s Carnaby Street to his home city. The brand expanded over the next decade and hit New York in 1976, becoming a major fashion driver, cultural touchpoint and innovator during that decade. 

But despite a period of success, poor management saw it going into decline and it passed through several hands before the Schaffers bought it.

Now, starting with September’s presentation, “the new custodians of Fiorucci will begin the process of renewing Italian fashion’s greatest force for positive disruption,” we’re told.

While we know that new categories are coming, it’s unclear how the label’s style will evolve having moved from British ownership and a British creative head to an all-Italian team in Milan. 

That said, the London link isn’t being severed completely with the London office being maintained and around 20 jobs preserved in key areas such as e-commerce. However, the London store on Brewer Street will reportedly close.

Fiorucci’s time under British control has been important in re-establishing the brand, relaunching it in the UK and in North America and making it available at high-profile retailers such as ASOS, Zalando, Selfridges, END., Fred Segal, and Kith. 

And multibrand retail will remain a key part of its future. As well as selling via its own e-store, Fiorucci is aiming for 300 stockists within three years. Its target markets will start with Europe, followed by the US, and key asian markets such as Japan, South Korea and China.