Fiorucci

Fiorucci was founded by Elio Fiorucci in Milan on 31 May 1967, opening his first shop on the Galleria Passarella after a formative 1965 trip to London left him captivated by Carnaby Street. That first store stocked designs by London names like Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes, setting the tone for a house that would spend the next two decades translating street energy into mainstream fashion. In 1970, designer Italo Lupi created the brand's defining emblem — two cherubs modeled on Raphael's putti — which became shorthand for Fiorucci's playful, pop sensibility. The 1976 New York store earned a reputation as the 'daytime Studio 54,' drawing Andy Warhol, Madonna and a rotating cast of downtown regulars. Fiorucci's most lasting commercial legacy arrived in 1982, when it pioneered stretch denim using Lycra, effectively inventing the designer-jean category later claimed by bigger houses. Along the way the brand introduced Brazilian thongs, Afghan coats and leopard print to a mass audience years before they became fashion staples elsewhere. The house has passed through several owners since, and its London flagship on Brewer Street closed for good in 2023 following a change of ownership; the cherub logo and disco-era archive now live on primarily through the brand's online store and select department-store points of sale.