“Everything is great, thanks for asking,” it said on the t-shirt in look 23. Glenn Martens seemed great too, despite falling behind his schedule thanks to a late arrival from Paris to Milan en route to this Diesel pre-fall 2025 appointment. It was to see a pre-chapter in which he focused on extending the last collection’s runway themes, on broadening the availability of lower-price point iterations of his Diesel design, and on expanding the house’s dizzying denim universe.
Much of the collection was cut in denim with new characteristics (such as the ‘fluid denim’ in the tailoring and long drapey skirts), or in other fabrics that semi-identified as denim (such as the ‘technical denim’ windbreakers made of waterproof material with a denim treatment). “Sometimes I don’t know whether it’s denim or not!” joked Martens. With such an array of either denim-identifying or denim-cosplaying pieces in his studio (and soon the Diesel shop-floor), that would be understandable: jersey t-shirts and strappy crop tops were in jersey treated to resemble denim, whereas some of the knits were assembled from real denim yarn. A new jeans style (in look 24) was cut with a slim, fitted waist and a wide, roomy leg: only partially for the sake of denim disambiguation, it was called the D-ENIM-M.
Ultimately, what maybe matters most to Diesel and Martens is the authenticity of the emotions that denim encapsulates as well as the values it signifies. These run from, but also beyond, denim. The mirrored cone set for this shoot allowed the models to throw crazy shapes to create a kaleidoscopic vortex of their own reflections. Block print graphics in which were blended art nouveau, pop art, and florals were placed over top-to-toe silkily fluid womenswear looks, linen separates, and waffle-jersey hoodies. Negative images of those prints were placed over sportswear shirting worn above faux-leather skirting, as well as a v-neck indigo and white striped jersey knit. There were some cool menswear mustardy jumbo cord pieces inspired by ’90s snowboarding. A hero cut biker first introduced by Martens during his earliest phase at Diesel was reintroduced in mixed color denim and faux-leather. “People kept asking and asking for it,” he said.
The tailoring in this collection was pitched towards an older vintage of the brand’s fans, while the closing group of all-over animal prints was consciously conceived—and printed—to hit Gen Z’s receptors. Responding to the people that respond to Diesel is central to its current success under Martens.