The UK's favourite fashion brand flipped the sign to closed at 14 stores yesterday, but it seems like founder Stephen Marks isn't giving up on his Seventies-styled brand just yet. A new homeware collection and plans to expand in China and India suggest he's trying to prove the company isn't FCUKed.
The label was first christened in 1972, a year after the film of the same name was released. It became a Seventies style success story, selling quality sleek tailoring and Breton stripe tops at mid-range prices. In 1983, creative director Nicole Farhi left to launch a high-end label under the French Connection parent company, and the brand lost its way somewhat in the Nineties. Simple T-shirts emblazoned with FCUK tapped into the logo-laden zeitgeist, but as fashion moved from combat pants and girl power pouts to cosy parkas and scowls, French Connection missed the boat and was left behind.
In the spring of '97, a British advertising The french connection overheating executive named Trevor Beattie was working on an FCUK campaign. He zoned in on the abbreviation lifted from an internal fax between the Paris and Hong Kong offices, and a marketing phenomenon was born. The 'fcuk fashion' slogan hit headlines and was the centre of a scandalous ad campaign that saw Eva Herzigova in a bust-enhancing Wonderbra projected onto Battersea power station. The ad was banned, but the brand survived and went on to create the 'fcuk you, I'm voting' campaign during the Bush-Kerry election in 2004.
There are a few ways to say hello in French, depending on the situation and how formal you want to be: Bonjour is used when talking to someone you know, and coucou or salute may be more appropriate in other situations. It's also possible to use helas (pronounced hell-a) but this is not as common.
The movie The French Connection is an action thriller with some of the most exciting police work ever put on screen. The movie is full of chases, gunfire, stabs and murders and manages to be thrilling without going overboard on the gore (unless you count that scene with the dog getting blown away). The sloppy plotting of the movie is easy to forgive because it's so much fun, and you'll find yourself holding your breath in anticipation at every turn. The French Connection is a must-see for any action fan.
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