Glenn Martens Debuts 'Diesel Red Tag Project'
Diesel wants all the talent. Greatly proficient Belgian designer Glenn Martens of Y/Project unveiled his head-turning 'Diesel Red Tag Project' collection at Milan Fashion Week Men's SS19, the follow-up to a first capsule created by Shayne Oliver. Denim is a material Glenn Martens is particularly wizardly with and this collaboration became an edit of the most famed Diesel pieces to date, with offbeat alterations inspired by the brand's "Go With the Flaw" campaign, and new originals. Everything is sizeless and gender-free.
The result is a covetable mixture of signature classic volume-defying shapes like large shearling jackets, giant logo earpieces, button-up sweat ensembles, tucked blazers, football scarves (great if you missed out on those Henry VIII Y/Project specimens) and great denim worked in every which way, of course.
Remember flashing the diagonal Diesel tab on your jeans just so by attempting to cram your hand into that tiny side pocket when you were 16? Now they say "Glenn Martens" and it's honestly brilliant.
Both parties felt inherently drawn to each other. Earlier this spring, Glenn Martens told Vogue: "Back in the ’90s, when we had no Internet and you had look to magazines, the label’s image and advertising was very much about going up against the rules, pushing limits, getting people to open their eyes. The first time I saw a gay couple kissing was in a Diesel campaign. It’s very important; it’s one of the brands that defines who I am." Renzo Rosso, founder of the OTB group that controls labels like Diesel, Maison Margiela and Marni, noted: "This is a vibrant moment for Diesel: we are working on a series of global initiatives with the most groundbreaking and radical international designers. The new generations are excited and engaged by beautiful products that have a soul and speak the language of today.”
The lookbook was shot by Dutch artist and photographer Hans Eijkelboom, known for his 'anti-sartorial' "People of the Twenty-First Century" street style collection, and styled by Ursina Gysi.
Shayne Oliver’s 10-look Diesel Red Tag collection will be available starting late August on Diesel.com and in selected retailers. The Glenn Martens Diesel Red Tag Project collection is expected to drop in November 2018.
Presentation images: WWD
Header Image: Glenn Martens