Diesel describes itself as an “innovative international lifestyle company” that has transitioned from denim expertise into a premium fashion brand positioned as an alternative to established luxury houses.2

Foundation: 1978

Diesel was founded in 1978 by Renzo Rosso, who aimed to create a new category of denim brand. The name Diesel was selected during the global oil crisis of the 1970s, when diesel fuel was regarded as an alternative energy source.

Rosso embraced the association with being an “alternative”, intending for Diesel to serve as a counterpoint to the dominant casualwear companies of the era. He also sought a name that could be pronounced easily worldwide, reflecting his ambition for the brand to be international from its inception.3

The brand’s philosophy was eventually encapsulated in its slogan:

“For Successful Living”

Rather than positioning itself merely as a jeans manufacturer, Diesel sought to sell an attitude and lifestyle centred on individuality, experimentation, humour, and freedom of expression.

1980s: Building the brand

During the 1980s, Diesel expanded beyond its initial focus on denim.

• 1979: The company introduced its first men’s total collection.
• 1981: Diesel began exporting outside Italy.
• 1984: The first children’s line, initially called Dieselito, was introduced.
• 1985: Renzo Rosso acquired complete control of Diesel.
• 1989: The women’s line was launched.4

The acquisition of full control in 1985 proved pivotal. Rosso assembled an international creative team and began transforming Diesel from an Italian denim company into a global fashion brand.5

1990s: Global expansion and advertising

The 1990s were instrumental in establishing Diesel’s international identity. Rather than competing solely through clothing design, the brand became famous for its advertising and communication. Campaigns were frequently ironic, humorous, provocative, socially conscious, or deliberately absurd.

Flagship stores opened in major fashion capitals, including New York, Rome, and London, in 1996. Diesel was also an early adopter of digital platforms within the fashion industry, launching Diesel.com in 1995.

Advertising became as central to the brand’s identity as its denim. Campaigns often challenged social conventions and satirised established notions regarding fashion, status, politics, gender, and consumer culture.

2000s: From jeans to lifestyle

Throughout the 2000s, Diesel evolved into a comprehensive lifestyle company. Its product universe expanded to include:

• Ready-to-wear
• Denim
• Footwear
• Bags
• Accessories
• Watches
• Jewellery
• Fragrances
• Eyewear
• Children’s clothing
• Home products

The brand also developed Diesel Living, extending its aesthetic into interiors and lifestyle projects.6

In 2002, Renzo Rosso established Only The Brave, later known as OTB, as a holding group for Diesel and other fashion businesses. This entity ultimately developed into the international fashion group that owns Diesel today.7

2010s: Reinvention

Diesel continued to explore the boundaries between fashion, art, advertising, popular culture, and technology. A notable campaign was “Go with the Flaw” in 2017, which celebrated imperfections rather than presenting conventional perfection as the ideal. This campaign exemplified Diesel’s long-standing strategy of framing unconventionality and flaws as positive brand attributes.8

2020s: Glenn Martens

A significant new chapter began when Belgian designer Glenn Martens became Diesel’s creative director in 2020. Under Martens, the brand gained renewed visibility among younger consumers. His work pushed Diesel towards exaggerated denim, experimental silhouettes, distressed materials, Y2K references, body-conscious clothing, and a fusion of streetwear and luxury aesthetics. Diesel officially identifies Martens as its current creative director.9

Diesel’s identity is defined by several recurring concepts.

Denim experimentation

Denim remains the foundation of Diesel. Rather than treating jeans as basic wardrobe staples, the brand has historically experimented with:

• Unusual washes
• Distressing
• Fading
• Coatings
• Treatments
• Deconstruction
• Oversized proportions
• Sculptural silhouettes
• Unusual constructions
• Denim used outside traditional jeans

This approach helped establish Diesel as a leader in experimental premium denim.

Individuality

Diesel’s philosophy emphasises personal expression over strict conformity to fashion rules. Clothing is presented as a means of demonstrating personality, attitude, and independence. The official brand philosophy cites creativity, individuality, inclusivity, and freedom of expression as core elements of its identity.10

Provocation

Diesel has intentionally challenged conventional ideas about advertising and fashion. Campaigns have addressed topics including:

• Social stereotypes
• Politics
• Sexuality
• Gender
• Diversity
• Consumerism
• Perfection
• Social injustice

The underlying strategy is to initiate conversation rather than simply advertise a product. Diesel describes its communication history as irreverent and anti-conventional.11

Humour and irony

Humour is integral to Diesel’s brand identity. While traditional luxury advertising often emphasises elegance, exclusivity, heritage, and seriousness, Diesel has frequently adopted absurdity, irony, exaggeration, and self-awareness. This distinction is a primary reason Diesel has historically been described as an alternative to traditional luxury.12

The DIESEL wordmark is one of the brand’s most recognisable elements. The visual identity is generally associated with:

• Bold typography
• Industrial references
• Red branding
• Denim
• Workwear influences
• Distressed textures
• Experimental graphics

The name carries an industrial association consistent with the company’s original intention: Diesel was meant to represent an alternative fuel and, metaphorically, an alternative fashion brand.13

Denim is arguably Diesel’s defining product category. From its inception, the company aimed to create innovative denim rather than reproduce conventional jeans. Over its history, Diesel became known for elaborate washes and treatments.

Diesel’s Japanese historical archive notes that the company produced more than 2,000 different denim washes between 1978 and 2012, illustrating the centrality of denim experimentation to the brand.14

Today, Diesel’s denim often functions as a fashion statement. The brand uses denim to create extremely wide jeans, low-rise silhouettes, distressed pieces, sculptural garments, skirts, jackets, tops, and other unconventional forms.

Advertising is considered one of Diesel’s most significant contributions to fashion culture. Beginning particularly in the 1990s, the brand became famous for campaigns that diverged from conventional fashion advertising. Instead of simply depicting models wearing clothes, campaigns often created fictional situations or offered satirical commentary.

Notable campaigns include:

• LaChapelle (1994)
• Go with the Flaw (2017)
• Francesca (2020)
• When Together (2021)

Diesel states that these campaigns reflect its broader interest in inclusion, social issues, creativity, and challenging conventional thinking.15 This approach made marketing itself a component of the product’s cultural value.

Diesel has evolved into a comprehensive lifestyle brand.

Clothing

• Jeans
• T-shirts
• Shirts
• Knitwear
• Jackets
• Dresses
• Skirts
• Outerwear
• Underwear
• Tailoring
• Denim collections

Accessories

• Handbags
• Belts
• Wallets
• Jewellery
• Eyewear
• Hats
• Small leather goods

Footwear

• Sneakers
• Boots
• Sandals
• Fashion shoes

Lifestyle

• Fragrances
• Watches
• Jewellery
• Home/interior products
• Diesel Living

The brand’s official description identifies apparel and accessories alongside fragrances, watches, jewellery, interior design, and other lifestyle collaborations.16

Diesel occupies a distinct position in the fashion hierarchy. It is not best understood as a traditional heritage luxury house like Chanel, Hermès, or Louis Vuitton. Instead, Diesel has historically positioned itself as an alternative to established luxury.

Its value proposition focuses less on heritage, formal elegance, and exclusivity, and more on creativity, attitude, experimentation, and cultural relevance. The company describes the brand as a premium fashion leader and a “true alternative” to the established luxury market.17

Diesel is owned by OTB Group, the fashion group founded by Renzo Rosso. OTB’s portfolio extends beyond Diesel to include major fashion houses such as Maison Margiela, Marni, Jil Sander, and Viktor&Rolf, alongside companies involved in fashion production and distribution.18

Structurally, the ownership flows from Renzo Rosso to OTB Group to Diesel. Renzo Rosso remains a central figure behind the group’s overall vision.19

Diesel has grown from an Italian denim company into an international brand. OTB states that Diesel has more than 2,000 points of sale worldwide, including more than 290 mono-brand stores, with a presence in more than 90 countries.

This global distribution reflects one of Rosso’s original ambitions: Diesel was intended to be an international brand from its creation, rather than a primarily Italian label that expanded overseas later.

Diesel has increasingly incorporated sustainability into its product and communication strategy. One example is the “For Responsible Living” labelling system. Qualifying garments carry information about their sustainability characteristics, with a QR code providing additional details on materials, treatments, washes, and trims.

This initiative is particularly relevant to denim production, which can involve substantial water, chemical, and energy use. Reducing the environmental impact of washes and treatments is therefore a key focus area for the brand.

Diesel’s significance in fashion extends beyond retail sales. Its broader contribution lies in demonstrating that a fashion brand can simultaneously function as a clothing company, an advertising phenomenon, a cultural commentator, and a lifestyle brand.

During the 1990s and 2000s, Diesel helped establish a model where unconventional advertising became a major component of brand identity. Later, under Glenn Martens, Diesel became influential in the resurgence of Y2K-inspired fashion, low-rise denim, exaggerated silhouettes, distressed materials, and provocative contemporary styling.

If traditional luxury communicates prestige and value, Diesel’s philosophy encourages wearers to make items their own, break rules, and enjoy the experience. This ethos is essentially what “For Successful Living” represents within the Diesel brand universe.

Historical dates are based primarily on Diesel and OTB’s official histories.

1. Diesel – OTB Group
2. About us: the Italian alternative jeans brand | Diesel®
3. DIESELブランドヒストリー｜ディーゼル（DIESEL）公式オンラインストア
4. 〖DIESEL〗DIESELについて｜ディーゼル公式オンラインストア
5. OTB Group Code of Ethics
6. About us: the Italian alternative jeans brand | Diesel®
7. About us: the Italian alternative jeans brand | Diesel®
8. About us: the Italian alternative jeans brand | Diesel®
9. Quiénes somos: la marca de denim más innovadora del mundo | Diesel®
10. Über uns: die italienische alternative Jeansmarke | Diesel®
11. 我们的故事 – OTB Group
12. La nostra storia – OTB Group
13. OTBの沿革について – OTB Group
14. Diesel
15. DIESEL PLANET｜ディーゼル（DIESEL）公式オンラインストア
16. DIESEL 关于DIESEL 丹宁，成衣，鞋，腕表，饰品，内衣，时尚眼镜
17. Diesel – Gruppo Pagoni
18. about-diesel
19. About Us | Diesel SA | Learn More About Diesel