Diesel S.p.A. (commonly referred to as Diesel) is a luxury Italian fashion brand specializing in luxury casual clothing, footwear, and accessories. The brand places an emphasis on passion, individuality, and self-expression in its clothes. Founded by Renzo Rosso in 1978, jeans and other denim items have been a staple of the brand since its inception. Even today, denim items sold by Diesel are produced exclusively in Rosso’s home country of Italy.
Rosso began working at Italian fashion brand Moltex in 1976, purchased a 40% share in the company two years later, and began producing jeans under the Diesel name. In 1985, Rosso bought out the other investors, making himself the sole owner of the company. In the mid-1990s, Rosso began to open flagship Diesel stores in major markets around the world, including stores in New York City, San Francisco, Rome, London, Berlin, Barcelona, and Paris.
Diesel goes beyond a brand of clothing and accessories, however. Numerous collaborations with other enterprises – including forays into jewelry with Fossil, cosmetics with L’Oreal, headphones with Monster and strollers with Bugaboo, as well as their in-house collections of children’s clothing and home goods – make Diesel into a lifestyle. Known for their surreal ads that focus more on experience than products, Diesel asks viewers to participate in decoding the information presented. Producing casual clothing for a luxury audience, Diesel targets a high-end retail market focused on individuality and comfort but which doesn’t want to sacrifice quality.
Article written by Dev Randhawa. Dev Randhawa is a US-based fashion blogger who writes about modern trends driving men’s fashion.