“There’s no music but there’s always a bit of a pop vibe. And the water is real, no Photoshop!” said Glenn Martens, commenting the Diesel pre-fall 2024 look book images during a studio visit.
The wet and wild images echo Diesel’s runway last September – when Martens staged a free rave party for 7,000 people under pouring rain – and so did this frisky and fun collection, which made his catwalk concepts more approachable and accessible.
Martens keeps reiterating his focus on all-things-denim, utility and pop aesthetics, only he is evolving the approach by blending them, rather than as separate chapters in his lineup.
Layering reigned, both via those distressed effects and laser-cut treatments on denim or jersey that Martens has been plying, and new takes bonding garments together to create single pieces. Cue a denim apron merged with denim pants to mimic a skirt layered over jeans, or similarly deceptive denim shorts attached to leather pants. “So a lot of them look like styling [tricks] but they are not,” Martens explained.
Trompe l’oeil effects continued in a single coat giving the illusion of a leather jacket tucked into a denim skirt, or joggers looking like cargo pants. The exclusive artisanal designs seen on the latest Diesel catwalk also took a democratic turn by being scanned and printed on more accessible items, while that show’s movie theme was reprised in eye-catching jersey separates treated to evoke peeled-off billboards.
New in Martens’ lexicon was a distorted print of raindrops in bold hues splashed on minidresses, padded jackets and a standout coat with a furry acid green collar and cuffs. A maxi puffer was fully made of denim as part of the designer’s work on “reborn archetypes.”
“Denim brands always have the same kind of language, but what we tried to do this season is to push this by taking different [design] icons and render them in denim,” Martens said.
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