Reconnecting a storied fashion label with its customers

How do you restore a brand to high prominence after a decades-long drift from its essential reason for being? 

Throughout the 70s and 80s, Fiorucci was the zeitgeist. An Italian label founded in 1967, its medium was clothes, but it was more than fashion. It was bold and boundless, championing sexuality and individual freedom. It was a collective of creative energy and vibrant minds. It was a party that everyone was invited to, but only a few truly belonged. 

But by 1989, the brand had lost its way. For decades, subsequent efforts to revive it failed to return the brand to the height of its success. So, in 2020, when a private equity firm partnered with the brand to bring it into the future, they approached Lippincott to reframe Fiorucci’s storied heritage for modern audiences.  

To start, there was a core question to answer: why and how does the Fiorucci brand connect with its audiences? Through an in-depth immersion, we unearthed the essence that powered Fiorucci’s rise to fame and lit its creative fire in the 70s: the brand was optimistic about the world but was always pushing it to be better. It was, in short, a Positive Provocateur, and only by returning to this purpose could Fiorucci re-ignite its connection with customers.  

Armed with this positioning as a foundation for further research, using AI-driven behavioral segmentation to rapidly identify target audiences for which Fiorucci’s magic is uniquely relevant. From there, we developed rich behavioral profiles for each segment and created directive next steps to bring the brand to life. 

Connecting a brand to its highest purpose is as essential as connecting it to optimal audiences. Which is why we are confident that as Fiorucci rolls out its new purpose, its reawakened spirit will infuse every brand experience and touchpoint, from clothing to ad campaigns to social media content and beyond.