renzo rosso, interview with the creator of diesel

renzo rosso, the creator of diesel, the italian jeans fashion brand, famous for its motto: for successful living

renzo rosso renzo rosso was born in 1955 in the north-east of Italy, he attended an industrial textile manufacturing school and after graduating in 1975, began making his own clothing. in 1978 he joined forces with several other manufactures in his region to form the genius group, which created many successful brands still widely known today, such as katherine hamnett, goldie, martin guy, ten big boys and, of course, diesel. in 1985 renzo took complete control of diesel by buying out the other partners and becoming the sole force behind the brand. thereafter the company began a period of remarkable growth and expansion. it was thus that, in 1996, renzo rosso and diesel received the "premio risultati" award from the bocconi institute in milan for being the "best italian company of the year". renzo was also nominated by american ernst & young as "entrepreneur of the year" for 1997 for the company’s strong moves in the usa. in december 1997, the english music and trend magazine 'select' included renzo rosso in a special classification of the 100 most important people in the world who will contribute to the shape of the new millennium. --- http://www.diesel.com	renzo rosso © designboom
--- we met renzo rosso at his studio in diesel's molvena headquartes on november 22, 2000. --- what is the best moment of the day? the evening, because I relax and spend time with my family. what kind of music do you listen to at the moment? I listen to almost any kind of music, it depends on the time of day, during the day more relaxing music and rock at night. do you listen to the radio? yes. what books do you have on your bedside table? I'm reading a book about the dalai lama do you read design magazines? yes, I really like the american magazine ‘nest’. where do you get news from? in the morning I watch the news while I work out at the gym, I flip through the newspaper while I have a coffee and I read milano finanza every day. do you notice how women are dressing? do you have any preferences? how women dress? or how women are? i like charming women, dressed in a sexy but not in a vulgar way. what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing? ties. do you have any pets? yes i have dogs. I don’t like stupid house bound dogs who are like knick-knacks, I like real dogs. now I have a sheep dog and two labradors for the children, they are very playful. where do you work on your designs and projects? I think of designs everywhere, all the time without really realizing it, but I think about strategies when I’m driving. describe your style, like a good friend of yours would describe it. my style? I think it is simple, and perfectionist...very precise...and very demanding. which of your projects has given you the most satisfaction? I get satisfaction from all of my designs. it doesn’t matter whether they are big or small, because I experience them with real intensity. how did you feel when you heard that diesel had outsold levis in the ‘couture jeans’ sector in the us? let’s say that diesel is the coolest brand of jeans right now in the us. this pleases me immensely, because I worked really hard to obtain this result. the american market has always been my dream, that is where is I learned the ropes and I brought that experience back to europe. but we certainly don't outsell levis in terms of quantity, and that is not one of my hopes because I've never thought of being a company that produces large volumes. I' ve always wanted to create a cool company. the use of new materials has opened a new horizon in the manufacturing of jeans, what is your latest discovery? we are testing the composition of different fibers together, like using steel threads in the fabric, this is also being done by others. you work with many young people and your target is young. what can you tell us about how young people have changed in the last few years? they have changed a lot. ten years ago they were more like sheep, everyone wore the same things, now they are more individual, more aware, they are better educated, they know reality better, ten years ago they were more naive. the fact of having access to a continuous flow of information has enriched all of us, especially the young. what fashion designers from the past do you particularly admire? I like to evoke armani, who isn’t from the past but he thought up a new way of making clothing. and those still active? I’m crazy about issey miyake, he is sort of my idol, he creates things that are really new, revolutionary, he always breaks free from the past, his clothes are always like new, and I admire him a lot. is there any architect or designer you appreciate a lot? there are a lot of architects who have designed beautiful things, alessi with their fanciful knick knacks, renzo piano and the osaka airport. I like things that are innovative and that remain. your advertising campaigns always have a positive message. once, however, the diesel advertisements caused a lot of public protest, the man who sawed a female mannequin in half was reminiscent of a serial killer. what can you tell us about that particular case and about the award-winning diesel campaigns? obviously people protested because the mannequin was recognized as something much more real, obviously this was not our intention. there are dangers you risk in trying to always be innovative, and we are condemned to always do something new so it is easy to get to the point where nobody understands you anymore. in general, in the early 90s we were the first to use this type of message, now used by many other brands which have made it their own, and we were and are the creators of this type of message: that is, no more violence towards the final customer saying to buy this product or that brand, but rather involvement in the life-style, and if you like it perhaps you can buy those clothes. giving the consumer the chance to choose something and not to consider him a robot condemned to respond to the advertising message. on the news broadcast they said that italians are afraid of unemployment, criminality and pollution. what are you afraid of regarding the future? for the future i fear the loss of traditions, things made by hand at home, customs, today’s system boycotts all of these things.	diesel logo 784 kb diesel advertisement 'hot couture', fall/winter1995 'chill out' diesel catalogue image, autumn/winter 1998 old for new, autumn/winter 1998 new age anorak, autumn/winter 1998
the questionaire of marcel proust (1871 - 1922) ........................................................................................................................................... (in age of fourteen proust was given an english album "confessions : an album to record thoughts, feelings". seven years later marcel proust published this questionaire) in the literary salons in nineteenth century paris, this parlour game was a popular amusement. for designboom renzo rosso has answered these 'old fashioned' questions. ...........................................................................................................................................
the main lineaments of my character. positive a quality I desire in a man. simplicity a quality I desire in a woman. tenderness what I appreciate most among my friends. a mess my principal defect. I'm never happy my favourite occupation. to make jokes. my dream of felicity. to spend more time with my children what would for me be the biggest misfortune. to be alone whom I would like to be. the pope, to do something good for the people the country were I would like to live. i like where i live the colour I prefer. green the flower I love. daisies. the bird I prefer. eagles for their strength, sparrows for their simplicity my favourite authors. - my favourite poets. - my heroes in fiction. diabolik my heroines in fiction. eva kant my favourite composers. david bowie my favourite artists. andy warhol my heroes in real life. nelson mandela my heroines in history. monica lewinski my favourite names. my children’s names what I hate most. dishonesty the historic characters I dislike most. hitler the military enterprise I like the most. have military men ever done anything good? the reformation I appreciate the most. - nature’s gift I would like to have. I’m happy as I am how I would like to die. like a hero my soul's present condition. satisfied, happy the faults I can bear. not having been able to give more my motto. for successful living	diesel advertisement 'le look le plus cool I', spring/summer 1995 diesel advertisement, historic moment series yalta, 1997 diesel sunglasses advertisement, antique dirty denim, press and poster advertisement 1998 --- all images courtesy diesel



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