We went to visit the exhibition dedicated to Elio Fiorucci at the Triennale in Milan.

He was a creatively long-lived designer and therefore his creations have crossed the lives of many people even in different years.

If you hadn’t worn one of his creations yourself, you remembered seeing it on someone you considered “grown-up” when you were a teenager (and maybe they were only 4 or 5 years older than you) and you liked their style.

I remember that during my high school years, whenever you could, you would go downtown to see him, even just to look at the windows of his shop. An explosion of colors.

During the Christmas period, when we went out to buy little gifts, a visit to his shop was a must.

His gadgets were the coolest and most beautiful of the moment.

Even the ‘shopping bags’ were a ‘must have’.

It was the time of Madonna and the dress she wore for the song ‘Like a vingin’ was talked about everywhere, almost as if it were a mythological creature.

What can I say… if you want to spend a truly emotional moment, immerse yourself in your memories as a teenager (but also as an adult), if you want to experience first-hand what pop art was and how it inspired generations of artists, you can't miss this exhibition.

Below we publish the presentation of Triennale, which we thank for the welcome and courtesy, and at the bottom you will find some useful links. 

I hope you like our photos. 

Enjoy the reading.

Gabriella Ruggieri for 1blog4u

"When the air raids started, we moved to the countryside, to Piona, on Lake Como, surrounded by nature, where a kitchen garden, some chickens, and some geese were our essential supplies. After returning to Milan, luckily the Emporio di Pantofole Fiorucci, the family business, hadn't been damaged, and we could get back to work.

My brother, Elio, soon started working in the store together with Valeria, our older sister (1952), "knew how to do everything," and she became a very important figure for him, and for the store. All of this fuelled his attention to detail and accuracy".

Ten years since his death, this is the first exhibition to present a biography of Elio Fiorucci (Milan, 1935 - 2015), one of the most beloved contributors to the fashion system in post-war Italy, from the late 1960s changing the way we think of both fashion marketing and shopping.

The exhibition tells the story in three ways: the first via Fiorucci's own recollections, his voice taped by a friend at the end of his life, an informal lens through which to read the material on display; “word of mouth, word of mouth" he tells us, revealing that at the heart of his method were encounters, in the shops, the disco, or on the road.

The second is the display of the largest collection of unpublished artworks to be collected around his projects, putting together personal archives from family and collaborators, artists, architects and designers, tracking the development of what has become one of the most recognisable idioms and revealing his recurring themes.

The third: Fiorucci's fashion is presented as a series of scenographic installations inspired by the language of theatre and performance. A series of mise-en-scène convey the narrative and visionary spirit that has characterised the life and work of Elio Fiorucci.

The exhibition seeks to represent the creative interests of Elio Fiorucci, Italian cool hunter and entrepreneur. From the 1960s on, the Fiorucci brand revolutionized lifestyle, fashion and the contemporary art scene in Italy. Fiorucci’s concept stores offered the public an original and eclectic mix of clothing, records, publications and objects from all over the world. The stores were also the point of reference for happenings and performances as well as the stage for music and contemporary art capable of attracting intellectuals, performers and artists. The retrospective has a biographical approach and includes the human, entrepreneurial and cultural stories of Elio Fiorucci, while bringing a fresh perspective on his figure. The exhibition includes Elio Fiorucci's voice—rendered through previously unpublished recordings—which traces some personal moments and is put in dialogue with the voices of other protagonists of the designer's life story.

Fiorucci's narrative voice, accompanied by those of other characters who have marked his life, guides visitors on a colorful and energetic journey through installations, works of art, photographs, clothes, accessories and documents from his personal archive. His relationships with leading figures in pop art were fundamental, from his collaboration with Keith Haring, who decorated the walls of the first and most famous shop in Galleria Passerella, not far from the Milano Cathedral and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, to his friendship with Andy Warhol, who decided to launch his magazine Interview in New York, right in the Fiorucci store.

Useful links:

-www.triennale.org
-www.en.wikipedia.org
 -www.en.wikipedia.org

Visit the Gallery 1 and Gallery 2