After six years, Glenn Martens is leaving Diesel. And this one actually hurts a little, because his departure marks the end of one of the brand’s most entertaining eras.
When Glenn joined Diesel, the brand had an enormous archive and a recognizable name, but it clearly needed a reason for people to pay attention again. Within a few years, he gave us one. Diesel returned to the fashion conversation with denim chaos, bizarre castings, clothes somewhere between fashion and meme, and shows people kept talking about long after they ended.
One of the defining pieces of this era was, of course, the infamous belt skirt. Absurd enough to immediately take over social media, start arguments and end up on all the right people. That was pretty much how Diesel under Glenn operated: you could love the clothes or hate them, but ignoring them was difficult.
Then there were the campaigns. As creative director, Glenn consistently made them loud, strange and occasionally exhausting to look at, but always recognizable. Against an endless stream of perfectly polished fashion imagery, it worked. Diesel had a personality again.
And then came the bags. The success of the 1DR was particularly telling. While rankings of the most desirable accessories were usually dominated by luxury houses, fashion girls were suddenly chasing Diesel. For a brand in a more accessible price segment, that was a huge moment. The 1DR found its way into the same wardrobes as bags costing several times more.
Glenn also understood something luxury still struggles with. Casting young faces, joining TikTok and adding a bit of irony only gets you so far. If your twenty-something audience simply cannot afford the product, the relationship eventually hits a price wall.
Diesel managed to avoid that problem. It was fashionable enough to be desirable, recognizable enough for the purchase to feel significant, while still selling pieces that younger customers could realistically save for. That helped the brand build an actual young audience rather than an advertising simulation of one.
Even the shows became part of the game. There were hunts for invitations and looks across Milan, turning the city itself into an extension of the brand’s communication. Diesel existed far beyond the runway, and that might have been one of its greatest strengths during Glenn’s tenure.
Now Glenn remains at Maison Margiela, while Diesel faces a much harder question: what do you do with a brand after its creative director has already given it a second life?
For now, we’ll just wait and see who brings the next round of denim chaos.
