Diesel Powers Into Its New Upcycling Initiative

Photo: Courtesy of Diesel

One could be forgiven for not necessarily associating the name Diesel with sustainable practice. But when Renzo Rosso first named his company back in the 1980s, it was because diesel was seen as an alternative fuel during the oil crisis (plus a word that was globally recognized). And, as he added this weekend in Milan, “I am the son of a farmer, and the way we work has always been green.”

Rosso was talking in his brand’s Milan flagship store on Piazza San Babila. A DJ was spinning tunes while crowds of curious shoppers were wondering why there was a huge pile of clothing outside the store next to him. The answer was that this was the launch of a new capsule named Diesel Upcycled For 55DSL, and as Rosso explained, it has come about partly due to his collaboration with Livia Firth’s consultancy Eco-Age (also a leading light in the Green Carpet Awards). He said: “They are helping us check every single supplier to help us guarantee our sources… and we are absorbing the culture inside the company so that now it is almost becoming like a competition, how to become more and more sustainable. Using organic fabrics, using less water in the manufacture of our jeans. … There are many things we can do and which we are doing. It would be nice if you would come to see us at our headquarters. You know there are so many people who talk about sustainability, but you have to deliver as well.”

The idea for this capsule, which will drop every six months under the authorship of a new designer, is that it is made entirely from upcycled Diesel deadstock. The first designer will be Renzo’s son Andrea, whose existing and excellent project on the side is not entirely dissimilar to this: His label Myar takes army surplus from around the world and then adds creative customizations to it in Veneto. Andrea said: “Everything we can find in Diesel that is deadstock—whether jeans, bottoms, or other all-purpose pieces that have not been sold—we are using for this project. So we are going to be asking designers to reinterpret existing garments, and there will now be the use of fresh raw materials. I am the first designer, and in June we will announce the next—a German designer whose name we cannot say now—but all of the people we are looking to involve have the sensibility and understanding to work with upcycled materials.”

Renzo chipped in: “It is a nice philosophy to give old stock new life. Andrea has put three or four items together to become one, not in an industrial way but in an artisanal way.” Each item comes with a QR code that reveals the exact source of its various deadstock ingredients—a sort of provenance—and in this way, added Renzo, “what you get is something unique, ever more singular than a limited edition. A garment that combines three items with that extra creativity is even more beautiful than the original, in a way.”