Diesel (brand)
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2009) |
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fashion |
| Founded | Molvena, Italy (1978) |
| Founder(s) | Renzo Rosso Adriano Goldschmied |
| Headquarters | Molvena |
| Key people | Renzo Rosso, president and founder |
| Products | Apparel and Accessories |
| Revenue | €1.3 billion (2009) |
| Employees | 2200 (2009) |
| Website | www.diesel.com |
Diesel S.p.A. is an Italian design company. It is best known for luxury, prêt-à-porter clothing aimed at the young adult market. The company is owned by its founder Renzo Rosso, and is based in the former Laverda building area in Breganze, northern Italy.
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History[edit]
The company was founded by Renzo Rosso in 1978. Renzo said that they learned marketing from the US, creativity from Italy and systems from Germany.[1]
In February 2007, the company launched a major intimates and beachwear division for men and women that is carried in the retail and department stores. Diesel Black Gold was announced in November 2007. The company has around 6,000 employees in 18 subsidiaries across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Its products are available in 5000 retail outlets, of which 400 are Diesel-branded stores. Annual sales were approximately €1.2 billion in 2005, and €1.3 billion in 2009. Revenue is largely derived from denim sales, but also extremely successful and influential ranges of accessories and children's wear - Diesel Kid. Production of denim jeans is based mainly in Italy. The biggest store is located in Milan, Italy.
Brands[edit]
For over 20 years all Diesel collections, including licensed products, were made under the Creative Direction of Wilbert Das. Currently the principal lines are Diesel, the main line, and Diesel Black Gold, a new collection launched in 2007 in the casual-luxury segment. The children's collection is called Diesel Kid. Diesel also offers collections of footwear, intimate (underwear), and bags. Diesel's licensed collections are eyewear (made with Marcolin), jewellery and watches (Fossil), and fragrances (L'Oréal). L'Oreal and Diesel launched Fuel for Life (for him and for her) in the fall of 2007. A mini-collection for Adidas was launched in 2008 called Adidas Originals Denim by Diesel.
Lifestyle[edit]
In recent years, Diesel have expended its brand outside of traditional fashion by collaborating with well established manufacturers to produce special edition items. Indeed, a collaboration with Fiat has seen the launch of a special edition Fiat 500, the Fiat 500 by Diesel, in 2009. Diesel also collaborated with AGV to launch a motorcycle helmet collection. Diesel Home, a collection of textile(Zucchi), light fixtures (Foscarini), kitchen items (Scavolini), bedroom and living room furniture (Moroso) has been launched. In 2010, Diesel collaborated with Pinarello to produce a special edition bicycle. In 2012, in collaboration with audio company Monster, Diesel launched a headphone, the Vektr. Recently, Diesel and motorcycle company Ducati announced the launch of a special edition Monster 1100 evo, the Monster Diesel.
Diesel in the late 1990s
In the second half of the 1990s, Diesel continued to shatter common marketing rules and began to establish itself as a major brand in the global fashion market. This was a result of Rosso's ambition to always break new grounds and his aspiration to work with most creative agencies and photographers around, including David LaChapelle, Terry Richardson, Ellen von Unwerth, Rankin[disambiguation needed], and Erwin Olaf.
In 1995, Diesel became the first major fashion brand to embrace the Internet with the launch of www.diesel.com,[2] which two years later was followed by the first online store of any fashion brand. Later in 1995 the company also launched one of its most popular yet provocative campaigns ever, featuring two kissing sailors staged at the peace celebration of World War II. Shot by photographer David LaChapelle, it was the first major public advertisement to show a homosexual couple kissing [Roberts, Kevin and Diesel: "Diesel XXX Years of Diesel Communication". Rizzoli, 2008. ISBN 780847831661] and was published at height of the Don't ask, Don't tell debates in USA, which had led the U.S. Government to refuse entry for openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. In a long article published by Frieze in 1996, the advertisement was credited for its "overarching tone of heavy-handed humor and sarcasm".[35]
In the late 1990s, Diesel began opening a large number of stores around the world, starting with its first ever mono-brand store, located on Lexington Avenue in New York in 1996, which was followed by stores in Milan, Paris and Rome. In contrast to common retail norms of the time, Rosso decided that each Diesel store should be styled independently. Occasionally, he would also collaborate with famous artists in this progress, as in 2003 when he let the artist Stephen Sprouse personalize the Union Square Diesel store in New York with graffiti.[3] Rosso also opened up new locations to showcase the creativity of the Diesel Creative Team, such as the Diesel Denim Gallery in New York and Osaka, Japan. The galleries showcased hand-treated denim of the highest quality and gave exhibition space to young, local artists. The Diesel Denim Galleries were much acclaimed by the fashion press and were described by The New York Times' Suzy Menkes simply as "super-cool".
Diesel in the 2000s
Throughout the 2000s Rosso increased Diesel's share in the global fashion market, mainly through opening more company owned stores, embarking on a series of brand collaborations, and by expanding on the business of Diesel.
Marketing[edit]
In recent years,[when?] the company has driven its attention to endorsing young creativity by sponsoring several projects such as the Diesel-U-Music Contest.[2] Diesel has been the founding partner of International Talent Support in its various forms. Diesel has also offered sponsorship and creative contribution to the 2006 edition of Vienna's Life Ball AIDS charity, as well as the Sundance Film Festival.
Diesel's innovative approach to marketing has let it to be perhaps the first clothing company to market their clothing in video games, such as Devil May Cry 2 and The Sims 3: Diesel Stuff. It has also developed innovative approaches to fashion shows.
In December 2008, Diesel announced a marketing partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, to sell their designs in Sony's virtual world, PlayStation Home with the majority of the proceeds going to the OTBF Only The Brave Foundation (Diesel's charitable arm). From January to September 2008, Diesel spent $5.8 million on U.S. advertising, according to TNS Media Intelligence.[3]
A November 2009 New York Post article[4] mentions that "the CEO of the fashion house's US division, Steve Birkhold, has resigned to join a rival firm." According to the Post, Birkhold was allegedly attempting to secure deals to expand the Diesel brand into U.S. chain stores like Macy's, while Diesel's Italy execs feared such a move would dilute the brand's image.
In 2010 from its headquarters in Breganze, it directly manages 18 subsidiaries across Europe, Asia and the Americas. It is now present in more than 80 countries with 5,000 points of sale, including more than 400 company owned stores. Diesel is part of the holding OTB, which also incorporates 55DSL (a street and urban wear brand); Staff International (an Italian company that manufactures and distributes clothing for brands such as Maison Martin Margiela, DSquared2, Vivienne Westwood, Viktor & Rolf and Marc Jacobs Menswear); and controlling stakes in Maison Martin Margiela and Viktor and Rolf.
Store count[edit]
| Country | number of stores |
|---|---|
| Italy | 67 |
| USA | 56 |
| UK | 37 |
| China | 31 |
| France | 29 |
| Israel - South Korea | 22 |
| Spain | 21 |
| Colombia | 17 |
| India | 14 |
| Germany | 13 |
| Turkey | 12 |
| Mexico - Greece | 9 |
| Netherlands - Saudi Arabia - Switzerland - Taiwan | 8 |
| Hong Kong - India - South Africa - Venezuela | 8 |
| Australia - Philippines - Portugal | 6 |
| Belgium - Brazil - Denmark | 5 |
| Austria - Canada - Croatia - Panama - Sweden - Thailand | 4 |
| Chile - Malta - Poland - Singapore | 3 |
| Argentina - Bahrein - Dominican Republic - Ecuador - Iran - Kuwait - Macau - Mauritius - Morocco - Norway - Russia - Serbia | 2 |
| Aruba - Azerbaijian - Costa Rica - Czech Republic - Finland - Guatemala - Lebanon - Egypt - Paraguay - Qatar - Romania | 1 |
Jordan1
References[edit]
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Attention Unsigned Bands – Diesel Music Contest". April 12, 2007.
- ^ Lipke, David (December 12, 2008). "Another World...Springing Back...The Mastheads Continue to Shrink...". WWD.
- ^ New York Post
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Diesel (brand) |
- Official website
- store.diesel.com Official online store
- www.dieselumusic.com Diesel:U:Music
- press.adidas.com Adidas press site
- Diesel on Fashion Net
- www.psfk.com PSFK
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