Glenn Martens, the Belgian designer and creative director of Paris-based label Y/Project has been announced as creative director of Diesel.
In a statement made to WWD, President of The OTB Group (Diesel, Maison Margiela, Marni, Amiri) Renzo Rosso confirmed the new appointment. "I know many designers and I just know Glenn is the perfect fit for Diesel, the first designer creative director of this brand in its 42 years of history. Glenn has an incredible background, he comes from the Antwerp school, and I love the way he can pick iconic pieces and reinterpret them, denim in particular, with modernity. I have been following his work for years since he won ANDAM, and I know he can take Diesel, and its iconic global lifestyle, into the future. After all these years, I am happy to hand it over to someone who will carry it forward with new energy and a fresh vision.”
The news will not come as much of a surprise considering Diesel has previously tapped Martens to design a capsule for Diesel's Red Tag sub-line, and given Martens' propensity for re-working denim, his new role at an iconic jeans label such as Diesel feels like a perfect match. Also, for anyone paying attention to the global movements of creative and artistic directors, there's been an upswing of mainstream fashion labels cherry-picking independent designers to take their brands into the future, as per the recent announcement of Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss as Global Creative Director of Reebok.
Although Martens' will reportedly continue with his work at Y/Project simultaneously, there's currently no word on when we'll see Diesel under Martens' creative helm in stores – but you can probably expect to see the new, probably reconstructed, denim pieces arriving sometime next year.
