Diesel creative director Glenn Martens went out with a racy, body-positive collection during Milan Fashion Week on Tuesday, ending a tenure that revitalized and revolutionized the brand.
The runway, bathed in red light, set the stage for a provocative show. That was driven home midway when Diesel models planted in the stands began moaning in sexual revelry from their seats, alone, in pairs and threesomes, to the soundtrack “Love to Love You Baby.”
“Every season we try to do something unexpected. This one was a bit more … experimental,” Martens said backstage. “I think the whole celebration of being body positive and loving each other is part of the Diesel DNA.”
The collection featured knitwear that appeared to disintegrate into denim and leather, part of the brand’s trademark textile innovation. Martens employed trompe l’oeil — an artistic technique that gives a three-dimensional appearance to a flat surface — to create the illusion of luxe shearling and leather. Shorts became gradually shorter until the final look was little more than a strip of fabric across the bum.
Laser-cut T-shirts looked as if they were falling apart and had simply been thrown on during a morning-after “walk of shame,” an impression reinforced by smudged lipstick.
In the seats, writhing turned to headbanging for the runway finale, and Martens received a standing ovation. He leaves Diesel, which he joined in 2020, but stays on at parent company OTB’s Maison Margiela, the avant-garde Paris couture house.
At Diesel, “we never pretended to be a luxury brand, even though we were on during fashion week,” Martens said. “We also wanted to do more alternative things, and think about the community. I think that’s what I try to celebrate, but also with respect for the clothes."