01BEFORE EVERY LUXURY HOUSE SOLD A HOODIE, RICCARDO TISCI WAS ALREADY
DOING IT AT GIVENCHY. HE PUT ROTTWEILERS AND BAMBIS ON SWEATSHIRTS,
SHOWED THEM NEXT TO COUTURE GOWNS, AND MADE THE PRINTED TOP A
STATUS OBJECT. HALF OF MODERN FASHION FOLLOWED HIS LEAD.
02HE ARRIVED AS AN OUTSIDER. TISCI, FROM A POOR SOUTHERN ITALIAN
FAMILY, TOOK OVER GIVENCHY IN 2005 AND POURED HIS OWN WORLD INTO IT:
CATHOLIC IMAGERY, GOTHIC ROMANCE, TATTOOS, STREET CULTURE. A FRENCH
COUTURE HOUSE, SUDDENLY DARK, SEXY AND PERSONAL.
03HIS GENIUS WAS MIXING OPPOSITES. TISCI PUT SPORTSWEAR AND COUTURE, THE
SACRED AND THE STREET, ON THE SAME RUNWAY AND MADE IT FEEL
INEVITABLE. THE LUXURY SWEATSHIRT, THE PRINTED TEE AT DESIGNER
PRICES: HE MADE THE INDUSTRY BELIEVE IN IT.
04AND HE SAW THE INTERNET COMING. TISCI TREATED THE SOCIAL FEED AS A
CATWALK, CAST FAMOUS FACES, AND UNDERSTOOD IMAGES TRAVEL FASTER THAN
CLOTHES. BY THE END OF HIS GIVENCHY RUN, STAFF HAD TRIPLED AND SALES
HAD REACHED HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS.
05THEN HE TRIED TO DO IT AGAIN. IN 2018 TISCI TOOK BURBERRY AND
DRAGGED THE STIFF BRITISH HOUSE TOWARD STREETWEAR AND YOUTH, WITH A
NEW LOGO AND A GOTHIC EDGE. IT WAS DIVISIVE, AND HE LEFT IN 2022,
BUT THE AMBITION WAS UNMISTAKABLE.
06THAT IS HIS REAL LEGACY. TISCI HELPED INVENT THE LUXURY-STREETWEAR
ERA THAT RULED FASHION FOR A DECADE. THE HOODIE ON THE COUTURE
RUNWAY, THE PRINT THAT BREAKS THE INTERNET: HE GOT THERE FIRST, AND
EVERYONE ELSE ARRIVED LATER.