BEAUTY IN WASTE WITH ELEVATED DENIM AT THE DIESEL SS25 SHOW
The future of Diesel is circularity, and under Glenn Marten’s creative direction circularity can give way to elevated designs. The Italian fashion house has always been deeply associated with denim, but this year’s Milan fashion show takes it to another level by transforming the set and decoration into a denim wasteland — highlighting that there is indeed beauty in waste.
The runway was an impressive sight to behold. With over 14,000kg of denim scraps, the models walked on a distressed land wearing distressed looks themselves. And those outfits perfectly matched the exaltation of the decor. From cotton sweatshirts, mini-dresses and tanks, to skirts and bodysuits, the looks shone bright while in its distressed glory. The wasteland world was further pushed to fantasy with some models wearing alluring and piercing coloured contacts.
Even though the clothes looked distressed, in actuality they are devoré jacquard; cotton burnt away to the tulle beneath to create a distressed effect. Meanwhile, tailoring is constructed from a double loom jacquared — when lasered, the remaining warp and weft is seen from two different sides.
Elevating denim is what Diesel does every day. Denim micro shorts are embroidered with extra-long fringing, a length that would be impossible from regular distressing. A leather double breasted jacket is treated to look like denim, worn with distressed denim jeans with tufted front seams and embroidered fringing across the ankle. That same fringing finishes a little denim chambray slip dress, as well as embroidered fringe across the legs of denim jeans.
The mission of circular design also re-introduced archival bandana prints, reworked and reused for a series of draped and knotted dresses and tops. The bandana prints were coated onto pleated fabric before being cracked open, creating a certain trompe l’oeil and drape effect.
“There is beauty in waste, in what is distressed and destroyed. It’s in the circularity of denim waste, and into the distressing that we build into the collection. This is the disruption of Diesel: we are pushing for circularity in our production as hard as we push the elevation of design,” says Martens. The show was abundantly supported by this circularity, and afterwards, the entire set will be reused and repurposed.
