What made you launch Black Gold in 2008? Why did Diesel need a premium collection?
It was also a market demand. Diesel is 32 years old and we have a lot of consumers who have more possibilities for buying a higher-end product. So we created not a luxury—because I don’t like the word “luxury”—but we created a premium, more contemporary line for the consumer who loves the style of Diesel but wants something more exclusive and fashion oriented.
A lot of jeans and urban apparel brands are about lifestyle. How is Diesel different?
You could put 10 different jeans from 10 different brands on a table and I could show you why Diesel is very different. It’s different in the shape, the fit, which is very characteristic. When someone is walking down the street, you can tell if it’s the fit of Diesel. There are so many little details in our product that you cannot find in other jeans. Also, we have special technologies for treating the jeans that only we have, machines that are built only for our production. We have a group of people in the company who work in a closed area—nobody else can enter—and every single day, they develop new treatments, washing processes, yarns and constructions. This is really where our know-how is.
Your new artistic director, Bruno Collin, is not a designer, but rather comes from the magazine world. (Among other things, Collin was founder and publisher of Paris-based fashion and lifestyle magazine WAD)
For a company like Diesel, we have many creative people, many designers on board, so we were looking for someone who could be a creative director not in terms of designing, but in terms of providing input. And I think the minds of people running magazines are fantastic because they always go out and see the new trends in everything. It can be the best of a lot of things, clothing, restaurants, clubs, bars, music, pretty much the best of everything. So this kind of attitude is fantastic for running a brand like Diesel that today is really a lifestyle involving a lot of different products.
How is Diesel evolving online?
Online, we are moving a lot towards our website right now, because the new generation is only about the web. Especially with this “Be Stupid” campaign, we’re talking with the blogs, we’re talking with—the web for me is fantastic, because you cannot tell people what to do. They just do what they feel is their reality. And this is fantastic. I think that really is our attitude, too. We already have our radio station, Diesel U: Music Radio, and now we want to develop our own television channel on the web.
Do you think other fashion brands have lagged behind in addressing the web?
Some of them, yes. But this is the future. The web is the future, and it’s going to be more and more important.
When you’re not thinking about Diesel, what do you do?
Well, first of all, I’m not running only Diesel, I’m also running the other brands—Viktor & Rolf, Margiela, DSquared—the children’s line, bags, watches, the shades, advertising. This is in addition to the other things I mentioned like the hotel, The Pelican, in Miami Beach… and we also do our own wine. And then I have my six children.
Six children?
Six children. And also I enjoy very much time with my friends, I play soccer, I train, I do yoga.
Would you say you’ve been successful at being stupid?
If you want to be successful, you need to be stupid.
Interview: Aric Chen
