Diesel

Diesel was founded in northern Italy in 1978 by Renzo Rosso and made its name treating denim as a design material rather than a workwear staple — washes, distressing, and a deliberately unserious tone in its advertising. Glenn Martens took creative direction in 2020 and rebuilt the label around its own archive, which is the reason its accessories are visible again. Bags divide sharply by period. The older ones are denim, canvas and studded leather in the workwear register; the recent ones are logo-led, with the oval mark blown up across coated surfaces and metal mesh. Since no line names are matched here, that distinction has to be made from the photographs. On the newer pieces the coating and the plated logo are the wear points; on the older, the denim and the stud backing.