HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

French Connection (also branded as FCUK or fcuk) is a UK based global
retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...
er and wholesaler of
fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...
clothing, accessories and homeware. Founded in the early 1970s by
Stephen Marks Stephen Anthony Solomon Marks (born 23 May 1946) is a British fashion retailer and founder, chairman and chief executive of the French Connection brand.Chris Blackhurst'The Big Interview: Stephen Marks' ''London Evening Standard'', 26 May 2009 ...
who also serves as
chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
and
chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
, it is based in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and its parent French Connection Group PLC was formerly listed on the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
. It was acquired by MIP Holdings Ltd in 2021. French Connection distributes its clothing and accessories through its own stores in the UK, US and Canada and through franchise and wholesale arrangements globally. The company became notorious for the use of the "fcuk" initialism in its advertising campaigns in the early 2000s. Other brands currently within the group include Great Plains, Toast and YMC. Former brands include
Nicole Farhi Nicole Farhi, Lady Hare, CBE (born 1946) is a French former fashion designer. In mid-career in London, she took up sculpture and, on retirement from the fashion industry, became a sculptor. Early life and education Born in 1946 in Nice on the ...
.


Brand history

Stephen Marks, who started out in business in 1969 as the Stephen Marks brand, established French Connection in 1972 — a year after the film of the same name was released. Initially designed as a mid-market women's brand, he has said the name came about because he managed to acquire a large shipment of Indian
cheesecloth Cheesecloth is a loose-woven gauze-like carded cotton cloth used primarily in cheesemaking and cooking. The fabric has holes large enough to quickly allow liquids (like whey) to percolate through the fabric, but small enough to retain solids lik ...
shirts — via a French contact — that could be resold in the UK at a large
profit Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory inter ...
. The business expanded into
menswear Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...
in 1976. In 1978,
Nicole Farhi Nicole Farhi, Lady Hare, CBE (born 1946) is a French former fashion designer. In mid-career in London, she took up sculpture and, on retirement from the fashion industry, became a sculptor. Early life and education Born in 1946 in Nice on the ...
joined French Connection as a designer. In 1983, her eponymous higher-end label was launched by the French Connection parent group and this was not sold until 2010. After Marks floated the French Connection brand on the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
in 1984, he was listed as the 15th richest man in Britain, but by the late 1980s the company was in trouble. He took control of the direction of French Connection again in 1991. In 2017, French Connection appointed two new independent directors, after facing pressure from investors. In February of that same year, Sports Direct bought Schroders' 11% stake in French Connection. On 5 February 2021, the company made a regulatory announcement that The Board of French Connection Group Plc notes the recent share price movement and confirms that it has received separate approaches from each of Spotlight Brands in conjunction with Gordon Brothers International LLC ("Spotlight") and Go Global Retail in conjunction with HMJ International Services Ltd ("Go Global") as potential offerors for French Connection Group Plc, each of which may or may not result in an offer for the company.


FCUK branding controversy

French Connection began using the branding "fcuk" (usually written in lowercase) in advertising after 1991 when Marks regained control. Reportedly, the first use of the initialism was on faxes sent between
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and London offices, headed "FCHK to FCUK". Marks said in a subsequent interview that the faxes were not intended to be rude. The advertising campaign came about after he was so impressed by a bra advert featuring
Eva Herzigová Eva Herzigová (; born 10 March 1973) is a Czech model and actress. Her career took a major turn in 1994 when she became the face of the Wonderbra campaign. The famous "Hello Boys" ad became iconic and contributed to her worldwide popularity. He ...
that he contacted the advertising executive behind it,
Trevor Beattie Trevor Beattie (born 24 December 1959) is a British advertising executive. He is a founding partner, chairman and creative director of Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB), and was formerly the chairman and creative director of TBWA London. Consider ...
, even though the company did not have a budget for an advertising campaign at the time. It was Beattie who spotted the marketing potential of the initialism and a campaign was launched around it. Being deliberately identical to a common
typo A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling or transposition error) made in the typing of printed or electronic material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual typesetting ...
of the
taboo word Word taboo, also called taboo language, offensive word, language taboo or linguistic taboo is a kind of taboo that involves restricting the use of words or other parts of language due to social constraints. This may be due to a taboo on specific pa ...
"
fuck ''Fuck'' () is profanity in the English language that often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested ...
", French Connection's use of "fcuk" caused widespread controversy. In addition, there was heavy criticism that French Connection and other advertisers are "free to put up offensive posters, gain huge impact from them, and then — when they are ordered down (often after the campaign has run its course) — to notch up even more publicity".Time called on FCUK posters
''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
'', 2001-04-04. Retrieved on 2007-07-15
Following a number of complaints about advertising campaigns using the initialism, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority requested that the company submit all poster campaigns for approval before running them. In the United States, the
American Family Association The American Family Association (AFA) is a conservative and Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States.trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may occ ...
case in the London High Court challenging the owner of "First Consultants UK Ltd", a computer company, over its use of the "fcuk" initialism. The case found that the internet domain fcuk.com was registered prior to French Connection applying for the UK Trademark and its claim for passing off was dismissed. Mr Justice Rattee refused to grant an
injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
, describing French Connection's use of the initialism as "a tasteless and obnoxious campaign." The company threatened legal action against the political youth organisation Conservative Future, which had briefly adopted the spoof abbreviation "cfuk" (short for "Conservative Future UK"). French Connection stopped using the initialism in advertising in 2005, and reduced its profile in its shops. However it is still used on certain menswear products and in-store branding. Despite this lowering of the profile, French Connection remains known as "fcuk", particularly by the UK press. Example of use in UK press in 2013: "FCUK marketing says first black and white shoot for brand by photographer Rankin is in line with its 'edgy' image". In 2016 it was reported that French Connection was to bring back its FCUK slogan campaign.


Brand position

While the revival of the UK brand's fortunes in the 1990s has been attributed to the success of the FCUK logo, it has had mixed financial fortunes during the 2000s, reflected in its poor share prices in the UK. After reportedly losing market share to rivals such as Zara,
Topshop TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British online fast-fashion retailer, which specialises in women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It is majority owned by Danish company, Bestseller. In 2024, ASOS sold 75% of Topshop and Topman to Bests ...
and
ASOS ASOS or Asos may refer to: * Asos, a village in Greece * ASOS (retailer), a UK online fashion store * '' A Storm of Swords'', a book in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' saga by G. R. R. Martin * Action short of strike, industrial action undertake ...
— with some analysts suggesting its pricing was out of step with other competitor brands — its position improved in 2014, and, , the French Connection brand had 67 stores in the UK and Europe.


Worldwide operation

French Connection distributes its branded womenswear and menswear through a network of owned stores, through franchised stores in major markets around the world, through concessions in department stores in the UK and also through other multi-brand retailers. French Connection also has a variety of licensed products, including eyeglasses, sunglasses, toiletries, shoes, jewellery and watches, which are sold through its own stores and specialist retailers, such as
Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...
and
Specsavers Specsavers Optical Group Limited is a Guernsey-based multinational optical retail chain, which operates mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Nordic countries. The chain offers optometry and optician services for ey ...
.


Other brands in group

French Connection represents the majority of French Connection Group's revenue, accounting for 93% of it in 2025. Other homewear clothing brands include You Must Create (YMC) and Great Plains. Formerly, it also owned the Toast brand, which had nineteen stores in the UK in 2021 and was sold in 2018 to the Danish clothing company
Bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
for .


Perfumes

French Connection has produced perfumes as an extension to the main clothing brand, some of which are listed below. * Eau de Fcuk Nos. 1, 2, and 3 — Men's range introduced 2000 and women's perfumes in 2001. * Fcuk Her and Fcuk Him (2003) — Original women's perfume by Zirh/Shiseido and men's perfume by James Krivda. * Fcuk Connect Her and Fcuk Connect Him (2007) — Men's and women's ranges with base notes, including
musk Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. ' ...
. * Fcuk Friction Her and Fcuk Friction Him (2012) — Women's perfume includes notes of coconut and vanilla; men's includes
citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...
. * Fcuk You (2013) — Men's range with top notes of
neroli Neroli oil is an essential oil produced from the blossom of the bitter orange tree (''Citrus aurantium subsp. amara'' or ''Bigaradia''). Its scent is sweet, honeyed and somewhat metallic with green and spicy facets. Orange blossom is also extract ...
and base notes of lemon.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:French Connection (Clothing) Clothing brands of the United Kingdom Clothing companies of England Clothing retailers of England Watch manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1972 Clothing companies established in 1972 Retail companies established in 1972 1972 establishments in the United Kingdom Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Obscenity controversies Eyewear companies of the United Kingdom Eyewear brands of the United Kingdom 1980s initial public offerings