Elio Fiorucci was born in Milan on 10 June 1935, son of a shoe shop owner. One day in 1962, Elio came up with the idea of making galoshes in bright primary colours whilst working at his father's shop. When they were featured in a local weekly fashion magazine, the galoshes caused a sensation. Following a trip to London in 1965, Elio was determined to bring Carnaby Street fashions to Milan. He opened his first shop on Galleria Passerella in Milan on 31 May 1967 selling clothes by London designers such as Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes.

In 1968 Fiorucci looked East for inspiration, buying cheap T-shirts from India, and turning rice sacks into bags. Three years later the company set up its own manufacturing plant, and adopted the "two angels" logo created by Italo Lupi. In 1974 the company opened a huge new store on Via Torino in Milan, expanding beyond fashion to offer books, furniture and music. The new shop also had a performance area, vintage clothing market, and restaurant and was financed by an investment from the Standa department stores, part of the Montedison group. Meanwhile the label introduced the monokini and thong from Brazil, causing controversy with the topless photos used to advertise them. Glass beads from New Mexico were another hit. In 1975 the company opened its first store overseas, on the Kings Road in London, and launched a children's collection called Fioruccino. It brought Afghan coats to the mass market, and popularized the leopard-skin prints [first created by Elsa Schiaparelli two decades before.