Italian high-end denim brand Diesel has unveiled its new creative strategy after its artistic director Nicola Formichetti’s departure in December 2017. Under the executive leadership of CEO Renzo Rossi, the brand picked the ongoing Paris Fashion Week to stage its first event of the year, unveiling a collaboration with Shayne Oliver.
Dubbed as the ‘Red Tag Project’, the partnership will have Oliver (founder and creative head of cult street wear brand Hood By Air) overhaul some of Diesel’s most iconic styles, giving them a more sports bent upgrade.
Showcased at an old factory with large hydraulic cylinders on display, the all-denim assortment is a mix of over-size jackets, skinny jeans, dramatic maxi dresses with a side of Oliver’s infamous logo-mania. The presentation format was far from a cliché runway but most of the clothes, when scanned separately, are very rack-friendly.
The collaborations will be spearheaded by Rossi, who has announced his return to Diesel in a much more involved way adding, “I was out running all the other companies, brands and other businesses, but I needed to be back, this is my blood, it’s my baby.”
Oliver is only the first in what will be a series of designer collaborations wherein Diesel plans to partner with different creatives on capsule collections instead of hiring one single creative director.
The designer is actually a perfect choice for Diesel, as the brand’s new identity aims to take a more Americanized turn.
Citing the buzziest designers of the moment – Virgil Abloh (Off-White), Jerry Lorenzo (Fear of God) and Kanye West (Yeezy) – Rossi says, “The real coolness in casual is coming from the US. We want to bring this interpretation of our heritage, what we have done before, and do a modern interpretation.”
