PROJECTS
The Resurrection
fiorucci
"It really takes a lot to get me to willingly go out on an evening after shows in London Fashion Week—or any Fashion Week, come to that—but I couldn’t jam my finger on the RSVP yes button fast enough when I opened an emailed invitation for Friday night. It read “Fiorucci: Resurrection Presented by Theo Adams Company.” It’s happening at L’Escargot, an old established restaurant over many floors in Soho and the main attraction? Well, Fiorucci is a fond memory so I’m curious, but it’s Theo Adams who’s the main magnet." Sarah Mower for American Vogue
The kind of party that many brands would kill for: achingly cool, outrageously oversubscribed and lots of fun. Having Theo Adams as the event’s creative director certainly helped. Adams, a performance artist and director of the contemporary theatrical performance group Theo Adams Company, was tasked with creating a multisensory performance party inspired by the “Giallo” Italian film genre of Fiorucci’s heyday of the Seventies and Eighties. For this, he emptied L’Escargot, London’s oldest French restaurant, and turned it into a madcapworld of disco and hedonism, complete with framed soccer jerseys and pizza-by-the-slice, and using music, performance, dance, set design, video, lighting and fashion to bring his vision to life. In one room, a bedroom, the door was shut every hour, trapping whoever was inside into a mad performance involving feathers, explosions and loud music; at the Fiorucci Risorante, waiters emerged every 20 minutes to sing “Happy Birthday” to someone random; on the top floor, Ruth Brown, a soul singer with an incredible voice, gave two intimate performances; drag queens dressed in Fiorucci 2.0 throughout, and London fashion favorite DJs James Hillard and Jim Stanton of Horse Meat Disco kept guests shaking on the dance floor." WWD
"For all the spectacles that took place on the runways of London Fashion Week, it was at the after-parties where the real fun began. The heaving Fiorucci party last Friday, was a case in point. Amid the heavy smoke and foggy mirrors of the labyrinthine townhouse that is home to L’Escargot restaurant in Soho, scantily clad actors and performers from the Theo Adams Company created a wild series of immersive rooms inspired by the “giallo” Italian film genre of the 1970s (a.k.a. the Fiorucci glory days). A fearsome troupe of drag queens guarded the door, as dozens of ambitious crashers crowded outside. Inside, the staircases were jammed with the city’s brightest young things. Think British models including Edie Campbell and Georgia May Jagger, or the designer Charles Jeffrey in a painted face and cobalt blue suit. Lethal martini vermouth cocktails flowed with abandon. A specially shipped Italian pizzeria oven on the third floor pumped out slices to ravenous partygoers until the early morning hours." New York Times
"Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci,” sang the godmothers of disco music, Sister Sledge, once upon a dance floor. And at the relaunch of cult Italian brand Fiorucci, the legacy of “He’s The Greatest Dancer” was still very much alive. Last night’s greatest dancer, or dancers, came in the form of the Theo Adams Company, the explosive and enigmatic performance collective. Akin to the Michael Clark Company, who were famous throughout the ’80s and beyond for their equally wild performances, Adam’s crew were certainly no wallflowers among the mixed media happenings in every room of the labyrinth-like venue of London’s oldest French restaurant, L’Escargot—which ranged from rolling around in a makeshift bed to singers belting out ballads. While Horse Meat Disco provided the tunes, an almighty array of old and new Fiorucci fans came forward for what one reveler was heard dubbing, “the best London Fashion Week party I’ve ever been to." American Vogue
"Fiorucci is back in the world and marking its eagerly awaited London store launch with a party featuring the Theo Adams Company. At the men’s shows in June, the choreographer’s spirited performance at Hoi Polloi was widely praised as the event of the week, celebrating the youthful guts embodied by the London shows. This is the show international guests should see." British Vogue
"Tonight we’re going to party like its 1981. In London’s oldest French restaurant, L’Escargot, Fiorucci relaunched with the inimitable help of the Theo Adams Company. Theo’s amazing work was entitled The Resurrection, in keeping with the brand’s quasi-religious second fashion coming. Fiorucci might be Italian, but it is so synonymous with the New York of Danceteria, subway graffiti, block parties, the Bronx and John Jellybean Benitez it might just as well come with its own boombox and extended remix. On an autumnal night in 2017 in Soho (London variant), Theo Adams took us there for a party that rampaged into the wee small hours. Adams response to the brand’s brief was inspired, he said by ‘Italian Giallo theatre and the death of the disco. Everything from the food and drink served to the trash on the floor has been meticulously considered.’ Considered Trash could well be a concept for next season’s LFW. For a night, it was all kicking off at a discreet and tasteful French bistro named after the snail. ‘It’s full of performance, soul, hedonism and horror,’ he explained. Adams cut his teeth in London nightlife, as a North London schoolkid, sneaking his way underage way into the best soirees. His sophisticated performance instinct is tied to the night. He has always defied gender constrictions and brought trailing in his wake a thorough understanding of what it means to perform as if your life depends on it. ‘This is not a fashion party,’ he said. ‘It is a space where your worst nightmares and most euphoric dreams become a reality.’ Literally, everyone came out to play." LOVE Magazine
Cast:
Sophia Monique Brown
Martin Cohn
Jordan Hunt
Sarah Kershaw
Anna Lewenhaupt
Yen-Ching Lin
Nando Messias
Mariya Mizuno
Sarah Moore
Helen Noir
Jordan Robson
Charlie Stock
And special guest Ruth Brown
Creative Director - Theo Adams
Musical Director - Jordan Hunt
Set Designer - Alice Kirkpatrick
Soundscapes - Helen Noir
Choreographer - Jordan Robson
Movement Director - Nando Messias
Video Installations - Sam Kilcoyne
Production - Prettybird
Wardrobe - Ed Marler & Matthew Josephs
Make Up - Isamaya Ffrench
Hair - Shiori Takahashi