Renzo Rosso: Wading in the Jean Pool

"My strongest aspiration has always been to make good and quality things," says Rosso. "I've never worked for money in my life. My passion, my strength, my enthusiasm come from the will of making something before--and better--than others." His guiding principles? To be cool and have fun.

Rosso stitched his first jeans (low waist, bell-bottom) on his mother's sewing machine at 15. He went to a local textile and manufacturing school ("I fell in love with it") and in 1978 ended up at a small clothing company in Molvena called, aptly, the Genius Group, which created Diesel among other exuberant brands. In 1985, he bought out the Diesel name to become the denim-besotted beacon behind the global emblem. Now he runs what stops short of an intergalactic empire consisting of Diesel (jeans), Diesel Kids ("gutsy clothing for a gutsy generation") and 55DSL (extreme and action sportswear).

There's also Diesel licensed products: sunnies, shoes, fragrances, luggage and watches. And in 2000, he bought Staff International, adding DieselStyleLab (higher end sultry design), New York Industrie (suits for the Diesel grown-up) and Martin Margiela (artsy upscale duds) to his melange. Most recently, Staff acquired twin wunderkinds Dean and Dan Caten's glamour-puss line, DSquared, which counts Naomi Campell as its first fan.

Rosso makes J.Lo look lazy. In the Diesel world, you can stay at a Diesel-designed hotel in South Beach (the Pelican), dunk your bread in olive oil from the "Diesel farm" in Vicenza, Italy, and drink Diesel wine: "Bianco di Rosso" (chardonnay) and "Rosso di Rosso" (a merlot and cabernet blend). And that's not all. While in Italia, why not pop by the Diesel "village"--company headquarters in Molvena--where an international coalition of hipsters eat, sleep and breathe Diesel? Loosely in the works are plans to open more hotels and possibly create a home line, Rosso's "dream." Not to mention churning out iconic design. Very "R.R." indeed.

Rosso insists Diesel has no direct competitors--and, really, how could it when the magnate doesn't just sell clothes but rather, a way of life? "I'm an easygoing and down-to-earth person who likes very much to enjoy the simple things: spending time with friends, tasting quality wine, living in an old, warm, intimate house and having holidays in quiet places with family and friends," Rosso says. And that's just it. Living with giddy gravitas--working hard, playing harder and "operating in an instinctive, independent manner," as Rosso describes, is the emotion behind the brand that fashion-forward men and women hungrily absorb.

In a WWD interview, he famously compared doing jeans to "producing art," and he teeters on the cutting edge of his own carving by finding inspiration all around. "Inspiration has no limits, no boundaries," he explains. "My role is to guide, inspire and give suggestions [to my team]. Everything can draw inspiration: a vintage cloth, a book, a street--when I was in Japan, I was deeply inspired by Japanese pharmacies."

Japanese pharmacies? Sounds like Rosso's characterization of Diesel's true spirit: "ironic, unpredictable, innovative and surprising." Look up the definition of "au courant," and you might just see him wink back at you.

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