How Renzo Rosso -- Diesel's high-octane owner -- turned a predilection for denim into a bonafide pop culture bonanza.
_______________________________________
A RAVEN-HAIRED VIXEN buttons her Diesels while waiting by the side of the road. As testosterone-charged men drive by, resting their eyes on the lovely temptress, one by one they crash. She smiles. She practically purrs as their tires roll off their cars and cluster, creating a roadside collection. Cut to the tousled beauty yanking out the linings and blowing them up, then to her entire family (Granny, too) lounging in the rubber tubes in their swimming pool. The sex kitten's in wet jeans, and the tag line reads: "Diesel--For Successful Living."
Then there's the one where a peachy Venus is chased by a swamp monster through the forest, only to be rescued by a Diesel dreamboat. After a cinematic treasure of a chase and capture, we find the couple embracing in a cozy cabin, their son grinding the beast's arm, grilling it on an open flame and serving it at their newfangled Monster Burger joint in the woods.
It'd be a psychiatrist's carnival to analyze the $40 million worth of these roguely stylish mini-movies, but the bottom line is that they demand more attention than a 2 year old at her own birthday party. "Diesel--For Successful Living" is no ordinary hoopla. It's owner Renzo Rosso's mantra. "Having a successful life for me means to work with passion and enthusiasm every day," he explains. As he told Details magazine, "You have to sell an emotion."
It's Rosso's high-voltage vision that's lifted advertising out of its moody doldrums, swept international awards and kept fashion hounds thirsting. So the question is: Do you live in the Diesel universe? Sure, it seems a cheeky spectacle, but if you reside in the Diesel world, you don't balk at these ads. You get them. In the Diesel world, you know better than to sit on a white couch with your dark, dark jeans. You don't coo over the latest looks the glossies are flaunting--you wear what makes you, and only you, caliente. Which, of course, is Diesel. You know you're scrumptious--your tush bootylicious--in those smoldering denim numbers, and you honestly believe no one else has quite the amount of game you do.
It's a tough sell to resist, which is exactly the way Rosso designs it. Shopping in a Diesel store is like watching the theater of the absurdly cool. There are jeans, and then there are the right jeans. Diesel's that perfect mix of cut, fit, wash, stretch and oh baby! sex appeal that translates into purchasing your very own slice of pop culture to savor. It's all very "R.R." (Renzo Rosso), as he referred to himself in Flaunt, and even the boldfaced and beautiful--Brad, Nicole, Britney, Colin--buy in.
Never underestimate the power of a dream. Who would believe that the business acumen other retailers are gagging for emanates from a farmer's son--a man who grew up in a rural Italian hamlet north of Venice, dreaming of Coca-Cola and James Dean?
Details called Rosso, "a business nerd in stoner clothing," which really sums up his swagger. The 48 year old's got a mop of springy curls, an Italian accent that swishes and swirls like a smooth merlot and the chops to give marketing and retailing traditions a petulant stomp while doing his own thing in the fast lane. Diesel now has a following in over 80 countries--stores stretch from San Francisco to Tokyo.
"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.
_______________________________________