A vintage 1980s Fiorucci drawstring shopping bag, in green plastic with white cord. Features an image of Mickey Mouse.

 

The legend of Fiorucci has grown since the 1980s. It was the Palace or Supreme of its day, a brand that made highly wearable jeans and t-shirts for the glitterati, a brand that used popular culture rather than cultural elitism to sell its dream, a brand that refused to take itself too seriously, yet still made an indelible impact on fashion.

 

For those who remember Fiorucci at its peak, the brand seemed to embody the attitude and aesthetics of the era, a rare kind of fashion house at the time - enamored with disco, dancing, nightclubs, shiny fabrics and bright colours. "Fiorucci was always mentioned", says famed choreographer and 1980s club kid Les Child. "Being in the dance centers someone would have something on... they'd say 'oh its Fiorucci'. Just the name sounded exotic and fabulous. It was very colorful, very wearable, very young."

 

"In the 80s it was very influential", says fashion writer Caryn Franklin, "...bright neon separates in lycra and hoodie style fabrics. There were lots of quirky accessories like belts, caps, leggings and bags. It was popular in the clubs for obvious reasons."

 

"This was a big casual-wear brand that was looking for a London street alignment... it was very early in recognizing that the drivers of the marketing would be the clubland world and art student innovators."

 

In the days before online shopping and Instagram takeovers, the flagship shops in London, New York, L.A. and Milan were vitally important to the brand's identity, with Elio Fiorucci himself putting a great onus on what happened on the shop floor. In the staid retail culture of the time, they were a breath of fresh air, but took some nerve to visit. "I remember seeing the flagship shop from the bus", says Les Child, "but just from outside... I don't ever remember going in because I was intimidated by it."

 

However, i-D magazine founder and sometime Fiorucci collaborator Terry Jones remembers the shops well: "My trips to Milan took me to the San Babila branch. The space that Fiorucci created became a hub. This was pre-Colette, pre-stores which were a meeting point and cultural center... it was a brand that went beyond fashion. They'd have a DJ, a jeans bar, different stalls for shoes and underwear. It was a one-stop shop that was a completely different experience from a major fashion department."

 

In excellent, unused condition. Folded for many years and bears creases commensurate with long-term storage. A fantastic souvenir of an iconic fashion brand.