Diesel S.p.A. is an Italian retail clothing company, located in Breganze, Italy.[3] It sells denim and other clothing, footwear, and accessories. The clothing line has two different brands: Diesel and Diesel Black Gold. There is also a line for children, called Diesel Kid. The company is known for its surreal advertising campaigns.
Diesel USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2019.[4][5][6][7] Its parent company, Diesel SpA, was not part of the bankruptcy filing.
Belgian designer Glenn Martens was appointed artistic director of Diesel in October 2020.[8]
History[edit]
Beginnings[edit]
Diesel founder Renzo Rosso began stitching jeans on a sewing machine at the age of fifteen. He used his mother's sewing machine to produce low-riding, bell bottomed jeans, which he would wear himself and sell to his friends for 3500 lire a piece. He later attended an industrial textile manufacturing high school in Padua.[9]
In 1976 Rosso began working for a clothing manufacturer called Moltex, which was owned by Adriano Goldschmied. After working with the company for two years, he used a loan from his father to buy a 40% holding in the company, which changed its name to Diesel, and marketed jeans under the Diesel brand and many others.[10] Rosso bought out Goldschmied's interest in the Diesel brand name in 1985 for US$500,000, becoming the sole owner of the company.[10] Rosso has said that he learned marketing from the US, creativity from Italy, and systems from Germany.[11]
1990s[edit]
During the first part of the 1990s, Rosso pioneered Diesel into the fashion world and set the grounds for its establishment in global markets. In 1990, Russ Togs, Inc. received the license to market and distribute Diesel lines in the United States and Mexico.[12] By 1991, Russ Togs was going out of business, and sold Diesel Sportswear to Rosso upon ending the licensing deal. As a result of Russ Togs collapse, the creation of made in the USA Diesel products never came to fruition, and Diesel instead placed its made-in-Italy jeans and clothing in US stores.[13]
In 1991, the company launched its first international marketing effort with the highly successful 'Guides for Successful Living' campaign series. The campaign won a Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the world's leading awards in advertising, in 1992. In the same year, Diesel also became the title sponsor for the World Superbike racing circuit.[14] Diesel continued to ignore common marketing rules and began to establish itself as a major brand in the global fashion market. This was a result of Rosso's ambition to always break new grounds[15] and his aspiration to work with most creative agencies and photographers around, including David LaChapelle, Terry Richardson, Ellen von Unwerth, Rankin,[16] and Erwin Olaf.[17]
Later in 1995, the company launched one of its most popular yet provocative campaigns ever, featuring two kissing sailors staged at the peace celebration of World War II. Shot by photographer David LaChapelle, it was the first major public advertisement to show a homosexual couple kissing[16] and was published at height of the "Don't ask, Don't tell" debates in the US, which had led the U.S. Government to refuse entry to military service for openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons. At the same time, Diesel launched one of the first significant fashion retail websites, which housed images of each of its collections. The first Diesel jeans to be sold online were available in Finland and Sweden starting in 1997. It then opened a virtual store that allowed home delivery for further markets the following year.[18]
Collaborations & partnerships[edit]
In 2002, Rosso was asked to collaborate with Karl Lagerfeld on a denim collection for the designer's Lagerfeld Gallery. The collection, which was called Lagerfeld Gallery by Diesel, was co-designed by Lagerfeld and then developed by Diesel's Creative Team. It consisted of five pieces that were presented during the designer's catwalk shows during Paris Fashion Week[22] and then sold in very limited editions at the Lagerfeld Galleries Stores in Paris and Monaco, and at the Diesel Denim Galleries in New York City and Tokyo. During the first week of sales in New York, more than 90% of the trousers were sold out, even though prices ranged from as high as $240 to $1840.[39] In a statement after the show in Paris, Rosso said "I am honored to have met this fashion icon of our time. Karl represents creativity, tradition and challenge, and the fact that he thought of Diesel for this collaboration is a great gift and acknowledgement of our reputation as the prêt-à-porter of casual wear."[22]
In 2003, Rosso asked legendary street and graffiti artist Stephen Sprouse to take over Diesel's Union Square store for New York Fashion Week the following September. As part of the collaboration Sprouse designed a series of limited edition jeans, T-shirts and hats, and made a complete makeover of the Diesel store, which meant adding his renowned Day-Glo design to windows, interiors, and outer building exteriors.[40]
Also in 2003, Diesel partnered with video game production company Capcom to create unique costumes for the playable characters in the game Devil May Cry 2.
In 2007, Rosso and Diesel partnered with L'Oréal for the production of Diesel's first fragrance, labelled Fuel For Life.[41] This was followed by a partnership with Italian carmaker FIAT in early 2008 to re-design the classic Fiat 500. Originally one of FIAT's most popular models ever, the new version, simply titled '500 by Diesel', featured several unique design details in the car's interior and exterior and was only produced in 10,000 units.[42]
In the spring of 2008, Rosso launched a collaboration between Diesel and sportswear giant Adidas.[43] After Diesel made a special denim collection for Adidas that was exclusively available at Adidas Originals stores, called Adidas Originals by Diesel,[44] the collaboration then developed into Adidas making special sneakers called Forum Mid Diesel Lea, Forum Mid Diesel Txt, ZX 700 Diesel, Stan Smith Special, Stan Smith 80's Diesel - available in Diesel stores worldwide.
In May 2011, Rosso launched the first ever Diesel bicycle, together with award-winning bicycle manufacturer Pinarello. Built as a single-speed, city bicycle with a hydro formed aluminum frame, the collaboration marked one of the first true collaborations between the bicycle and the fashion industry.[45]
Talent support[edit]
In the early 2000s, Rosso pushed Diesel to start reinvesting part of the company's marketing budgets into the creative community, by financially supporting young, creative talent. This led to Diesel initiating projects like Diesel:U:Music Radio, Diesel New Art and Diesel Wall and become a founding partner of ITS (International Talent Support).[62] Furthermore, the company also helped launch Pocko's affordable art books in 1999, and for a number of years sponsored projects like Online Flash Film Fest and Semi-Permanent.
In 2001, Diesel:U:Music Radio was founded with a vision to support unsigned bands and as a reaction to an overly commercialized music industry. Consisting of an independent jury with artists and producers such as Ian McCulloch,[86] Mark Ronson,[86] and Ronnie Wood,[87] the jury annually reviewed thousands of demos from around the world and selected winning, unsigned bands.[88] By partnering with record labels like Warner Music or media publishers like Vice,[89] the winning artists were offered records deals[90] and media publicity. In 2006, the project was broadcast live on Channel 4[91] in Great Britain and featured legendary avant-garde rock band Roxy Music.[92] In 2009, the project included a global tour and radio station. The tour featured live performances by artists like Kanye West and The Roots,[93] who supported the competition's winning younger bands, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! and HEARTSREVOLUTION. Produced in London, the Diesel:U:Music radio station was hailed by The Guardian[94] and The Daily Telegraph[95] for its unique quality programming, and had shows hosted by everyone from Grandmaster Flash to Franz Ferdinand. In an interview with Dazed & Confused, Rosso explained the purpose of the project, stating that "It's about giving people the tools and seeing them succeed and excel in their creativity".[96] Through its 10-year history, the Diesel:U:Music winners included Diplo, Mylo, DJ Yoda and The Cool Kids.[97]
In 2002 Rosso and Diesel became founding partners of ITS (International Talent Support),[98] a competition for young designers. While Rosso has often been a member of the jury, Diesel and the OTB, its parent company, sponsored the competition financially.[99] In 2005, the founder of i-D Magazine, Terry Jones, credited ITS for "dedicating so much passion and commitment to the selection of designers, like no other organization".
In 2003 and 2004, Diesel began supporting local, young artists through the Diesel New Art and Diesel Wall competitions. Diesel New Art was open to graduating artists working across various media, and would award-winning artists with solo exhibitions, shows at international art fairs, or promotion through internationally published catalogues.[100] For Diesel Wall Diesel purchased large, unused facades in major cities and transformed them into popular exhibition spaces. Winning artworks were selected by an independent jury, and displayed on the walls for a longer period of time throughout the year.[101] During the years a few of the jury members have included curator Hans Ulrich Obrist,[102] film director Bigas Luna, art director and graphic designer Peter Saville,[103] artist Patrick Tuttofuoco, art director Jérôme Sans and editors Helena Kontova and Stefano Boeri.[104]
Founded in 1989, ANDAM (National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts) seeks, in the words of Pierre Bergé, "to identify emerging talents in contemporary fashion design and offer them the means to exist, to produce a runway show during Paris Fashion Week, and to establish and develop their label in France, thus perpetuating the dynamism of the Parisian fashion scene.[105]" Thanks to its sponsors (Fondation Pierre Bergé, Galeries Lafayette, Google, Hermés, Kering, Lacoste, Longchamp, LMVH, OBO, OTB, Premiere Classe, Saint Laurent, Swarowski, Tomorrow),[106] as well as of two public institutions, the DEFI and the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, ANDAM is the largest international fashion prize, a driving force in the development of new fashion designers in France. Renzo Rosso, was the mentor of the 2013 and 2019 ANDAM finalists. In addition to the financial endowment of the prize, the winners benefited from the strategic, creative and commercial coaching of a worldwide fashion industry entrepreneur, helping the winners develop their label and build an international reputation.
Trademark dispute[edit]
In late 1979 or early 1980, an Irish-based company, Montex, began producing jeans bearing the brand Diesel. In 1982, Diesel SPA began selling jeans under its Diesel brand in Ireland[107]
In 1992, Montex applied to register the Diesel trademark in Ireland. Their application was opposed by Diesel SPA. In 1994, Diesel SPA applied to register the Diesel trademark in Ireland. Their application was opposed by Montex.[108] In 2001, the Irish Supreme Court refused to allow Montex to register the trademark.[109] In 2012, the Irish Controller of Patents Designs and Trademarks refused to allow Diesel SPA to register the trademark.[110] In 2024, the Irish High Court ruled that Diesel SPA was entitled to register the Diesel trademark in Ireland. This decision is open to appeal.[111]