Diesel FW24 Turned Zoom Callers Into the Stars of the Show
Under the watchful eyes of 1,000 virtual attendees projected on the walls of its runway, the Glenn Martens-led brand pushed its zestful signatures in a more mature direction.
Glenn Martens’ Diesel shows are heralded for their gargantuan spectacles. For Spring 2023, the designer’s runway broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest-ever inflatable sculptures, with an audience of almost 5,000 people. The brand’s Fall 2023 showcase saw models traverse around a massive pile of 200,000 Diesel-branded Durex condoms, and Spring 2024’s show transformed into a full-blown rave for 7,000 attendees.
On Wednesday in Milan, Martens’ Fall 2024 production built on the brand’s big-thinking identity, broadcasting an enormous Zoom call with 1,000 meeting members on the walls of its catwalk. “They watched while being watched,” noted the brand, which also live-streamed the show’s styling, casting, ateliers and runway set up for 24 hours a day on its website and Instagram account in the week leading up to the event. Now that’s what you call transparency.
Martens envisioned the spectacle as “a uniquely voyeuristic and interactive experience.” On the runway, his brand-transforming signatures (which earned a 13.1% boost in sales last year) became more mature without sacrificing their punchy personalities. Denim and jersey textiles, two vital pillars of the Diesel wardrobe, received new bonded structures, coating treatments and distressed finishes, while the designer experimented with two-dimensional manipulations on fuzzy materials.
Floral-cheetah prints commanded jersey sets; aged tops flaunted transparent sections that were meant to mimic post-party sweat lines, and faux fur made overcoats, puffer jackets, ribbed knitwear and skirts look more luxurious in kaleidoscopic color. Meanwhile, formalwear, void of classic tailoring, favored denim and leather textiles, and statement separates were covered in screenshots from the Diesel-coded Zoom call. Here, Martens cleverly platformed the brand’s fans with a refreshingly inclusive strategy, bolstering their unwavering frenzy through next season.
See Diesel’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to Hypebeast for more Milan Fashion Week coverage.
