What does FCUK stand for?
As of this writing, the Wikipedia article on the subject contains only a single sentence: “The FCUK logo is an initialism of French Connection UK”.
The reason the brand was so successful is that the founders, John Stephen and Stephen Marks, succeeded brilliantly at answering a question that had never occurred to anyone else.
What do you call a store that sells outrageously expensive clothes?
French Collection
The French connection gave you a way to talk about the clothes. Once you knew someone was wearing French Connection you could make all kinds of unconscious associations, the quality of the fabric, the cut, and so on.
And because everyone knew about this particular aspect of French Ness and assumed it meant quality and style, you could also invoke those qualities without actually having to convince customers that your clothes were better than those from other brands.
It worked because it solved a problem that no one else had seen as a problem. If John Stephen and Stephen Marks hadn’t asked themselves what to call such a store, no one else would have either.
The French Connection UK story began in the early 1970s when a London tailor was arrested for selling a large quantity of heroin to an undercover police officer. The police then discovered that the drugs were sourced from a manufacturer in Marseille, France.
They worked with the French authorities to put a surveillance operation in place and identify the suppliers. This led to a small-time British hood called Roy Slater, who was later jailed for seventeen years after being convicted of being part of a gang that smuggled £30 million worth of heroin into Britain between 1972 and 1974.
Slater refused to name his suppliers but he did tell the police that ‘the French connection’ was a nickname for someone called Monsieur Christian David.
David was arrested, but after being interviewed he fell from an apartment window while trying to escape from police custody and suffered serious injuries. He recovered and was sent to jail for ten years, but never revealed the names of his suppliers.
Company Focus
The company’s original focus was on producing and retailing clothes under its own brand name.
In the early 1980s, French Connection began to produce a wide range of clothing for the mass market, including polo-shirts for Lacoste, and in 1987 it launched a factory outlet store chain.
By the early 1990s it had become a leading player in the global fashion scene, with corporate offices in London and New York.
In 2003, after several years of losses, Marks sold French Connection to the private equity firm Permira for £300m.
The following year French Connection was floated on the London Stock Exchange; however, in 2006 Permira bought out Marks’ holding in the company and took it private again. In 2007 Tom Hunter bought French Connection from Permira for £300 million and installed John Neill as CEO.
Two years later he took French Connection public again and became its chairman.
French Connection has since today been listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
French Connection owns the brand name FCUK (French Connection United Kingdom) which is well known across Europe and Asia. It has become one of Britain’s leading clothing retailers operating over 1,000 stores worldwide (2015). French Connection UK Ltd today employs over 1,000 people.
When was Fcuk perfume launched?
Fcuk was launched in 1999.
Who created the fragrance?
The creator of the fragrance is
James Krivda.
What are the notes of the fragrance?
A mixture of freesia, mandarin, black current, violet, amber, musk and sandalwood.
Does the fragrance have a matching deodorant?
Yes it does. The deodorant is called Fcuk Forever. It has a slightly different smell to it.
How long does Fcuk last on the skin?
The lasting power on this fragrance is good. You can get around 8 hours out of it.
How much does a bottle of Fcuk cost?
Available on Amazon if you’re looking for a deal. See promotion below:
Where did the name originate?
The name was conceived by the founder of the company who thought it would be an attention grabber.
The letter F in the logo represents her first name, Francesca, and the C represents her last name Cook. She also considered using other letters such as K (her father’s first name), E (her mother’s first name) and A (for her son Alexander). Eventually she settled on F and C as they were the initials of everyone in her family.
The name of the company fcuk was created in 1999 by Stuart Rose, the then Director of menswear for Marks & Spencer. He named his company after the legendary clothing brand, French Connection.
The name (FCUK)was controversial
The acronym fcuk has created many a stir around the world.
It began with a judge expelling a juror from court for wearing a t-shirt with fcuk printed on it.
The most prominent case was the Mayor of Boston who was campaigning against the brand with the help of The American Family Association who called for a boycott of fcuk’s shops and merchandise.
The controversy started when a judge in Manchester fined two women for wearing FCUK t-shirts in court. The judge had asked them to remove their tops, but they refused to do so. They were told to leave the court and pay a fine of £90 each for contempt of court.
One of the women had bought her top for £5 at an outlet store called FCUK, while the other had bought hers from a market trader for £1.
Once French Connection heard about this they sued the company Fcuk which was named after their brand and demanded that they change their name.
The case went to court and in February 2004 Fcuk decided to change their name to FCUK Ltd, just before it went bankrupt.
FCUK Ltd was sold in 2005 and become Fcuk Lifestyle Ltd.
It went into administration in 2008 and in 2009 it became FCUK Lifestyle Ltd again and continues in business online today with its original FCUK range and many other ranges including FCUK Sport and FCUK Swimwear etc.
Where is the company in 2021?
The company’s business is divided into three categories: retail, wholesale and franchising.
In 2021, the company expects to have 1,200 franchised stores in France and another 3,250 franchised stores in other European countries. The wholesale operation supplies the franchised shops as well as a network of about 850 corporate-owned stores.
The company’s brand portfolio includes four perfume brands: FCUK, Gaultier, Jean Paul Gaultier and Baby Phat.
The wholesale operation includes these additional brands: Burberry, Hugo Boss, Yves Saint Laurent, Banana Republic and Kenneth Cole.
The company markets its products through catalogues and e-commerce and operates a number of stand-alone retail outlets. The company does not expect to make any significant acquisitions or divestitures in the next five years.
From 2014 to 2021, the company plans to invest approximately $350 million in its existing operations; this will be used primarily for expansion of the retail operation and upgrading the wholesale distribution network.
About five years ago at a dinner with a group of CEOs, and the conversation turned to branding. In those days it was hard to find someone who didn’t believe that branding was the most important thing in business.
So, it was asked to imagine that they were going to buy a perfume company. “Which one?” was asked.
By a show of hands, about half the people at the table chose Calvin Klein. Then it was asked, “Where do you think Calvin Klein will be in 2021?”
One person thought Calvin Klein would be the biggest perfume company in the world. But everyone else thought that although it would remain a major player, its market share would decline as new niche brands emerged and took market share from big companies like Calvin Klein.
What’s interesting is that these predictions were all made by smart people who were good at making money from brands already.
No one could have been more bullish about branding than they were—and yet their predictions (which came true) were all based on the premise that brands go out of fashion and decline as they age.
The conventional wisdom among marketers is exactly the opposite: that brands grow only stronger as they age and that they eventually achieve iconic status; and that anyone who doesn’t continuously regenerate them with a new name.
The perfumes of FCUK is a chain of high-end beauty boutiques in Europe and the United States. It has been named one of the ten most innovative companies in the world by Forbes magazine, and its success has been widely attributed to its exemplary marketing.
The company has never advertised, nor run any kind of promotion.
How to say fcuk
Its products are expensive, but not outrageously so; they are generally regarded as worth the price. The boutiques are located in upscale malls and department stores, but always at a discreet distance from other shops; there is no music or background chatter, and customers are left alone to contemplate their purchases.
What really sets the company apart through is its customer service.
The staff are impeccably dressed and trained in a variety of disciplines: makeup artistry, massage therapy, aromatherapy, reiki, reflexology, you name it.
They offer free consultations to all customers on how best to use their products, and they hold seminars on topics such as “How I learned to be beautiful,” “How I learned to smell beautiful,” “How I learned to be irresistible.”
In short, this is one cool place to buy perfume.
What will happen next?
There are two common views.
One is that this divergence marks the beginning of a long-term trend: Europe has so many problems — demographics, debt, regulation, and so on, that it will never be as productive as the United States again.
The other view is that Europe’s problems are mostly temporary, austerity measures, financial crisis fallout and economic growth will return once Europe gets past them.
You decide where it will go…
