Diesel Black Gold takes a multicultural trip around the world

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Jan 15, 2018

South America, the Maghreb, the Orient, Central Europe, Scandinavia – the Diesel Black Gold fall/winter 2018-19 mens and womenswear collection sets sail. As Renzo Rosso, founder of Diesel, head of the OTB group and owner of the label explained "this collection is a round-up of all the travels we have made around the world since the 1980s, from Latin America to the Middle East, picking through our archives to update some pieces." 

The style is clearly multi-ethnic and nomadic, tapping into a certain free-spirited, wanderlust zeitgeist. The globetrotting models of this season, dreadlocked, tattooed and pierced, and walking the runway in fringed suede shoes and boots, replaced the rock rebels that usually characterize Diesel's high-end line. Alongside the traditional leather, shearling and denim, this season also featured more mesh, jacquard and embroidery, as well as some interesting weaves. 

"It's a more tactile collection," creative director Andreas Melbostad explains: a collection "with weightier fabrics" where a variety of accessories take center stage. "Season after season, my work has consisted of expanding the vocabulary of Diesel Black Gold by bringing new expertise and techniques to it" the designer added.

Women were wearing Afghan tunics or Navajo dresses with puffed sleeves, reimagined as highly wearable little dresses in linen and cotton, complemented with embroidery and flaring skirts. Denim outfits were decorated with gemstones, fine cords cropped up everywhere, crossed over collars or along the length of sleeves. These contemporary young tribe-members were also carrying mini shoulder-strap bags adorned with pearls and fringes.

Men coupled slim leather trousers with long white mandarin-collared cotton shirts, Bulgarian peasant blouses and djellaba-style striped and hooded cardigans, but also with Sami jerseys (a reference to the Norwegian designer's Nordic roots?) or even with Syrian tunics. Blazers, jackets and coats were embellished with tribal motifs and other ethnic patterns. 

"We are recentering on the product and are also working a lot on womeswear, which offers a lot of potential, seeing as it represents only 30% of our sales", Renzo Rosso stated, although he did not reveal any further details about the future of his company, currently going through a phase of radical changes. "In a few months, we will have a lot of news to announce", he said suggestively. 

Since the announcement of the departure of creative director Nicola Formichetti from Diesel, no successor has been identified, with collections currently coming under the responsibility of the brand's internal creative team. Although Diesel's new CEO Marco Agnolin – who will step into the role in February – was not in attendance, a number of the group's managers could be found backstage, including the new director general of OTB Ubaldo Minelli, as well as Giovanni Pungetti, head of the Greater China region.