It feels a bit odd to say that someone is “killing it” in 2020 given that, like, everything is terrible. Yet it’s proven to be a fruitful time for Evan Mock, Donte Colley, and Julia Fox, whose stars continue to glisten even during a pandemic. The trio star in Diesel’s Fall 2020 campaign — shot by RAYSCORRUPTEDMIND — bringing some blue-ribbon clout to a label keen on recapturing its '90s heydays once more.
The winds are changing at Italy's favorite denim upstart following a root and branch overhaul of top-level personnel, which has also seen the return of founder Renzo Rosso. The new Diesel wants to be leaner (less diffusion lines and collaborations) and, more importantly, greener — see the Responsible Living strategy. In the age of sweatpants as uniform, repositioning its name on the market is not exactly a straightforward task, yet it has an incendiary past in storytelling to fall back on that many of its peers would envy. Looking back over the past 10 years, it's hard to wrap your head around how a brand that predicated itself on pissing people off somehow missed the whole streetwear wave.
“The ads that stand out the most in my memory are the 'Be Stupid' ones,” Uncut Gems star Fox tells me over e-mail, referencing the tongue-in-cheek 2010 campaign that included a woman taking a cheeky photo of her nether regions while a lion prowled behind her (it won a top award at the Cannes advertising festival and was then banned in the UK). The internet has toughened audiences since, and it's difficult to assert whether your average millennial would so much as second glance at these kinds of posters on their D2C edgelord-dominated IG feeds nowadays. Perhaps the influencer bears more weight. In any case, proof will be in the product, and Diesel hopes that new technology — like allowing customers onto its site to customize a patch on their limited edition 2020 Fallen Edition jeans — will help win over a new generation of fans.
As for her own taste in jeans, Fox says she prefers a low-rise black stretchy skinny jean, or a light wash, high-waisted mom jean. "If you pair a belt with your high-waisted jeans, it frames your booty and makes it appear perkier while also making your waist snatched," she says, letting us in on her favorite style hack. And as for bootcuts — acceptable, or not? "Yes! Absolutely!" she says, enthused.
Bringing back Diesel as well as bootcut jeans? If anyone can, it's Fox.
