Diesel's SS25 show and the thousand lives of denim

“Denim is diesel” repeats a distant, metallic voice, accompanying the immersive experiential show that set the stage for SS25, starting from 14,800 kg of denim waste. A tribute to the decadent charm of a material that never exhausts its life cycle, reused in this case to create new rolls of denim, used in the automotive and insulation industries. After the show, the entire set will be recovered and recycled. «This is the breaking point for Diesel: we promote circularity in our production as much as we push the elevation of design» says Glenn Martens, creative director of Diesel.

Elevating denim is what Diesel does every day, and SS25 was a celebration of all the ways it can be done. Micro-denim shorts embroidered with extra-long fringes, a double-breasted leather jacket treated to look like denim and worn with distressed denim jeans with quilted front seams and embroidered fringes along the ankles. Those same fringes also finish a denim chambray slip dress, as well as embroidered fringe details along the legs of the denim jeans. Martens' beloved Trompe D’oeil returns with cotton sweatshirts, mini-dresses, and tank tops with faux-distressed necklines in devoré jacquard, where cotton is burned away from the underlying tulle revealing a distressed effect. At the same time, the tailored look is crafted from a double-loom jacquard: when laser-cut, the remaining warp and weft are visible from two different sides.

The jersey tank tops and long-sleeved dresses are printed with traditional Prince of Wales checks and are double-layered everywhere except the chest, leaving the underlying body free to express itself. The Prince of Wales checks are printed on PVC, and then cut into bikinis, dresses, and tailored pieces, all with extra-long fringes, integral parts of the garment. Experiments with denim continue: a handcrafted coat is made entirely from leftover denim yarn spools, recalling the waste seen on the runway. Diesel’s ultra-soft denim is reinvented through the use of a double-loom, later laser-treated to appear worn. A monk-style, floor-length coat, as well as oversized jeans, are part of Diesel Rehab Denim, made from 100% recycled cotton incorporating scraps from Diesel's own denim production.

The Diesel prints are applied to plissé jersey, then cracked for unpredictable results on tank tops, shirts, and mini-dresses. Double-loom knits wrap around the body, laser-treated to appear worn, while Tencel denim made from Lyocell is sprayed to resemble leather, then draped into sleeveless mini-dresses. Circularity in design is also reflected in bandana prints from the Diesel archive that are reworked and reused for a series of knotted and draped dresses and tops, applied to plissé fabric, later opened and cracked. A handcrafted jacket and coat are made from wrapped and tied waste yarn, creating organic shapes as if the floral base were alive. The Play bag is printed with the image of a Diesel bandana. Debuting this season, the Play-Double-D bag is printed with the image of a sculptural version of the Play. The Grab bag has a body covered with knotted bandanas. For shoes, the D-Lake wedge with a transparent sole can be either a clog or ankle boot. The trompe l'oeil boots look like tight jeans or leggings trapped in the metallic D of a stiletto heel. The Diesel eyewear collection is the first developed with the new licensee Luxottica. The sunglasses are intentionally worn with tumbling effects, while the sculpted reading glasses feature the triple oval D, Trini-D-Y, on the temples.

In the Republic of Diesel “Blue is the warmest color”: from the monumentality of the set-up to the meticulousness of a collection that explored every possible variation of the material that marked its success. Even the models' eyes were transformed into sheets of ice, ensuring that nothing was left to chance. Season after season, Martens continues to build a coherent and all-encompassing imagery, in which the consumer can enter and lose themselves in the thousand variations of denim and blue.