Glenn Martens didn’t exactly make a quiet exit from Diesel.For his final show as the brand’s creative director at Milan Fashion Week, Martens turned the runway into a red-lit club filled with denim, leather, bare skin and plenty of attitude. It was provocative, playful and very Diesel.Martens joined the Italian label in 2020 and is credited with helping reshape its image during his time there. Now, after six years, he’s leaving the brand, although he’ll continue working with its parent company OTB at Maison Margiela.
A final collection with plenty of skin
The show came with an unexpected performance. Around 200 members of the Marseille-based artistic collective (La) Horde were scattered among the audience.As Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby” played, performers danced, kissed and moved through the crowd, turning the venue into something that felt more like a late-night club than a traditional fashion show.At one point, models sitting among the audience joined in with provocative moans. Later, the energy shifted into headbanging as the show moved towards its finale.It was deliberately uncomfortable at times, but that was the point.“Every season we try to do something unexpected. This one was a bit more … experimental,” Martens said backstage. “I think the whole celebration of being body positive and loving each other is part of the Diesel DNA.”
Denim, leather and clothes that looked like they were falling apart
The clothes held their own against the performance.Martens played with Diesel’s familiar denim but pushed it into stranger territory, mixing it with leather and knitwear and creating pieces that looked as though they were coming apart.Some knits appeared to dissolve into denim and leather. Trompe-l’oeil techniques were used to make flat fabrics look like shearling or expensive leather, while laser-cut T-shirts appeared almost shredded.There were also plenty of deliberately revealing silhouettes. Shorts became progressively smaller, with the final look reduced to little more than a strip of fabric across the back.Smudged lipstick added to the slightly dishevelled, morning-after mood.
Martens’ last Diesel collection
The final collection brought together many of the ideas Martens had explored at Diesel: experimentation, denim, sex appeal and a willingness to blur the line between fashion and performance.The designer also played with hybrid pieces and unexpected combinations, including a leather-and-denim pantasock. Laser treatments, coatings, cut-outs, embroidery, slashes and manipulated fabrics appeared throughout the collection.Despite the theatrical setting, the clothes remained the focus.Martens said Diesel never tried to present itself as a traditional luxury label, even while showing during Milan Fashion Week.“We never pretended to be a luxury brand, even though we were on during fashion week,” he said. “We also wanted to do more alternative things, and think about the community.”That spirit was all over his final collection.As the show ended, Martens received a standing ovation. He may be leaving Diesel, but his next chapter remains within the same fashion group, with his role at Maison Margiela continuing.And if this was his goodbye to Diesel, he certainly made sure nobody would forget it.
