Dream, Disruption, Deviation, Denim. With these four “Ds”, Renzo Rosso sums up the essence of what Diesel stands for in his recent book, published with the journalist Susie Lau, to celebrate 41 years of revolution in fashion and business. But make no mistake: the revolution is far from over – it continues, and this time it is centred around sustainability, big partnerships and new tech.

In the beginning

Rosso – from Brugine, in Padua – now controls Maison Margiela, Marni, Amiri, Viktor & Rolf, Brave Kids and DSquared2 through holding company Only The Brave (OTB), but his story began way back in 1978, when he launched the jeans brand Diesel. At the height of the oil crisis, Rosso came up with a new take on casual fashion – much like diesel was an alternative to classic petrol at the time. Into his new project he poured “passion, individuality and an expression of his own personality”.

Born in 1955 to a family of agricultural workers, Rosso studied textiles at the Istituto Tecnico Ruzza in Padua. He made his first pair of jeans (low-slung flares) at the age of just 15, using nothing more than his mother’s sewing machine, and started out selling trousers to his friends and local stores. He quickly forgot about plans to study Economics in Venice, instead accepting a job as production technician with Moltex, before he teamed up with Adriano Goldschmied – the businessman in charge of clothing company Genius Group – to set up Diesel. Rosso then bought out Goldschmied to take full control of the business just seven years later.

Diesel quickly began to grow and gain a following. The company soon expanded into different product areas, including fragrance, bags, watches, sunglasses, jewellery, helmets, furniture, lighting and home accessories. Its products are now available in over 80 countries, through a distribution network of over 5,000 sales points and 400 monobrand stores.

Expansion and rebranding

Yet Diesel has not been immune to stalling and setbacks. “Thanks to Diesel, I was able to buy more brands,” explains Rocco. “But that also meant that I spent more time dealing with the new companies and less and less with Diesel. That was a mistake. So, two years later I came back stronger. Diesel was run by managers for too long. Yes, we generated some great numbers, but we were selling to everyone. The product became a lot easier and simpler. It wasn’t the beautiful Diesel product it once was.” Rocco decided to roll up his sleeves and initiate a process of rebranding to shake off the signs of fatigue that the brand had been showing.

The first step was to change the creative direction of the brand. Sure enough, Rosso hired Nicola Formichetti, of joint Italian and Japanese descent, on a five-year contract. He then set about agreeing partnerships with the likes of A-Cold-Wall, Shayne Oliver, Glenn Martens and Gosha Rubchinskiy in order to capture the attention of millennials. Next, he focused on restructuring the part of the business that was showing the most problems – the US division – before deciding to sign up to a series of environmental pledges.

Sustainability and millennials

Rosso is well aware that production techniques and materials are two key areas in which his group can show that it is staying true to its original, innovation-led ethos. “By embracing sustainability, we can help the world to wake up quicker, before the planet is destroyed,” he said recently, discussing the systems used to treat fabrics. “The new generation sees things from a different perspective. They’re pushing the world to become more responsible. We never use chemicals in our treatment – we only use natural colourings and lasers. We recycle water, which has meant we’ve been able to cut our water consumption by 80%, and we’ve been working with Livia Firth’s ecological team for four months now.”

And Rosso has backed up these words with actions. Diesel has just unveiled The (Re)Collection, a sustainable capsule collection created in collaboration with Coca Cola, using PET made from plastic bottles and recycled cotton. The project is also innovative in terms of its distribution system: initial access to the products is tied to the use of recycling bins. By scanning a recycling logo with a smartphone, wherever you are in the world, users can access an exclusive website dedicated to the collection. It’s further evidence of how Rosso is changing the face of shopping – this time with a green twist.