Diesel's 30th birthday

In strict accordance with the ‘work hard, play hard’ mantra that so many of the creative industries abide by, Diesel’s 30th birthday party was more than just a few cocktail sausages and a glass of bubbly. Renzo Rosso’s big-thinking brand set the stage not just at the company’s HQ but in 18 different countries across the world.










From Amsterdam to Beijing and São Paolo to Tokyo, the world partied hard on Saturday 11th October. Celebrations included golden oldies like Chaka Khan (New York) and bright young things like Sam Sparro (Tokyo) and even a gladiator fight (Paris) and hula-hoop extravaganza (Helsinki). The entire event was an exercise in party planning on an unprecedented scale and, come Sunday, 18 cities simultaneously felt the after effects of one of the biggest parties in history.










It’s not just clothes and parties that Diesel do well though. Central to the brand’s enduring success is its notorious creative direction, which has often gone beyond the hackneyed remit of advertising a model as clotheshorse. Notable boundary-busting stunts from the past include launching a newspaper, The Daily Africa, creating an imaginary country rock star and producing a reality TV show online whose stars wear only pants and lingerie. Anyone wishing to relive the best moments of Diesel’s creative direction can get their hands on an anniversary tome, ‘XXX Years of Diesel Communication’ (published by Rizzoli), available globally at premium bookshops.

Be it parties, ad campaigns or just a good pair of jeans, Diesel’s not about to rest on the laurels of 30 years’ work and play. And, as partygoers across the globe return to work, the countdown’s already begun to their half-century milestone celebrations