MFF 115 - Glenn Martens: «Diesel is an alternative to everything»

Already part of the new Belgian wave of young designers on the crest of the wave, Glenn Martens is fashion’s new it-boy, capable to turning everything he touches into gold. With his courageous stylistic choices, he has revolutionized the classic concept of streetwear thanks to a more conceptual key that draws on the cardinal themes of the contemporary society such as inclusiveness, uniqueness, respect, sex positivity. The same positivity synonymous with freedom, pleasure, and experimentation, which was celebrated in the latest set of Diesel’s fall-winter 2023/2024 womenswear show, of which he is the creative director, by building a mountain of condoms and making Durex debut in the fashion world. Born in Bruges in 1983, he arrived in Paris at the court of monsieur Jean Paul Gaultier before rising to the helm, years later, of the disruptive brand Y/project. In 2017, after winning the Andam fashion award, he was noticed by Otb owner Renzo Rosso who asked him to collaborate with Diesel on the Red tag project, The rest is history, and today, Martens is rewriting it through his exploration of the universal language of denim. Everyone wants to have him in their teams today. The creative dialogue he has engaged in moves between denim, desire, and sexuality. However, he never stops touching new unexplored territories, making the brand shine around its four pillars: denim, utility, pop, and craftsmanship. «We are not positioned in the luxury segment, but we are also not a lifestyle brand. In fact, we are alternative to everything», he told in this interview.

How do you feel after three years at Diesel?

I arrived during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was strange because, for a long time, we were always in the hotel. I met my team only once and we were all wearing masks. It was unusual, but also helpful. If there had not been the health emergency, I would have been able to go around a lot, but instead I was able to focus on setting a strategy, art direction, or even just a direction to follow. Of course, I could not see the stores, so I did not know exactly what was going on at the retail level, but it was a good time to engage in the intellectual process necessary for repositioning. We started traveling again since last year, we engaged in the market, we finally understood who is buying, why they are buying, and how it works. The first year was important, but overall, it has been a very fast two and a half years. I did not expect this success in such a short time. Sometimes I have a hard time realizing that this happened to me.

Do you follow more your emotions or the strategy?

The strategy. It means figuring out what kind of brand we are. We are a mix of industry types, and it is fun, but it takes time to figure it out. We are not positioned in the luxury segment, but we are also not a lifestyle brand. In fact, we are alternative to everything and it is funny because there is no way to define us. It is a unique position in the industry to the extent that it is complicated to define and difficult to get our team and the people outside to understand where we are going. Choosing how to communicate with different types of people, from historic to potential customers to celebrities has been the starting point of my work at Diesel.

Is it difficult to work at a brand with such historic and important past such as Diesel?

It is actually not difficult. It is more of a celebration, the opportunity to work with a heritage that is more fun than that of a classic luxury brand. In the first six months, I realized that I did not have to redefine or invent anything because everything was already there. We just had to reconnect internally and externally the founding values. Diesel was already a beautiful and successful brand, but over the years people started to care less about its past, the reason they fell in lo ve with it. Therefore, my main task was to emphasize those ingredients and make su re everyone reconnected with it. I try to translate the deep values of the brand into garments instead of just responding to market demands. Of course, you cannot do the campaigns that were done in the past anymore…

Society has shifted towards more inclusivity. It must not be that easy…

In the 1990s, the campaigns were talking about different things. Today, we have to be more careful and sensitive, and in addition, back then people paid less attention to the market and from a less international perspective.

Is it complicated to be a designer today?

No, I do not think so. It is more a matter of being more business-oriented. In the past, a designer could afford to be very creative, whereas today they have to think about the market and society as well. I am the main merchandiser for Diesel and also the main developer, but I also live the fun part of fashion.

How did you learn these skills?

By doing them. (laughs) You have to be curious. I am a very observant person by nature, I love fashion for its different aspects. There is the artistic one, which is my starting point as I come from an art school, but there are also the social, political, and economical aspects.

What is your first fashion-related memory?

I come from Bruges, a town in Belgium full of medieval buildings and canals, a kind of fairy tale. As a child, I was obsessed with historical characters, because I felt like I was living in a more fairy-tale context than a real one. I loved Disney movies and drew historical characters. Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Cleopatra, Marie Antoniette, Sissi… I did not know what face or character they had, but I knew how they were dressed. Therefore, I began to understand that clothes can create a personality or reflect it. Through clothes you can be perceived in a certain way by others. This was my first approach to fashion. Fashion as a creation of the self.

What did you study?

I studied interior design. Before that, I had gone to a high school which focused on the academic path in law, all very theorical and not very creative. Interior design seemed to me the right mix of theory and creativity. In Bruges, then everything flowed slowly. I was looking for something to transition. I graduated at 21 and decided to continue studying, but I did not know what. I had heard about this fashion academy in Antwerp, especially about its spectacular architecture. I went to visit the building and told myself it would have been nice to spend some time there. I thought fashion might be a fun idea, but I had no idea what it would be like, so I took the entrance exam with a portfolio full of sinks, kitchens, and chairs, because at the time that was my only artistic expression. Strangely enough, they accepted me. It is an international school and they were accepting only 18 freshmen. I was part of that group and I said to myself, «Well, now you have to do it». And it was great. It was love at first sight, a perfect match dictated by chance.

Did you meet the Antwerp Six?

Walter Van Beirendonck was a professor of mine, while Marina Yee was not yet teaching, but I met her later. I remember Dries Van Noten as a welcoming and friendly person, he was holding a workshop in his office during my senior year. Linda Loppa was the director until my junior year, then she moved to Florence. She is the one who pushed the academy, she was the heart of it. I am among the last of Linda Loppa’s generation.

Today we are witnessing the return of a Belgian wave, from Raf Simons at Prada to Pieter Mulier at Alaïa. What do you think?

And Matthieu Blazy at Bottega veneta. Other people have also made me think about this new Belgian wave and it is great. Although there has never been a time when Belgian fashion stopped being successful and stopped influencing.

Perhaps it is because it is distinguished by a good balance of creativity and business sense. For example, British designers are fickler…

Yes, we like to be pragmatic and well-organized. We are hard workers, but we also like to have fun. Work hard, party hard. (laughs)

Is that also Diesel’s mantra?

Yes, that is exactly why I feel so comfortable here.

How does it feel to be an it boy? Everyone is interested in your creative direction from Diesel.

For me, Diesel is the best match that could happen. Of course, compared to Y/project, which is a niche business, I am much more in the spotlight here. There is a lot of work, but we also have a lot of fun, which is very much in my wheelhouse. When I am not working, I try to do other things. I like to visit museum or be in nature.

Does all this work make you feel under pressure?

It does not anymore. I think I am the one putting more and more pressure on myself now, through the challenges I am constantly giving myself. It is like I want to do better and better.

What was it like to collaborate with Jean Paul Gaultier on haute couture?

Well, Jean Paul was not there at all, so it was not really a collaboration. I was more of a guest creative director (with Y/project, ed.). Besides, every designer would love to do a collection with an unlimited budget. I was like, «Spend money, spend money, spend money» (laughs). It was a dream, it is amazing to have no limits. Although I had fun, I was basically working on three collections at the same time (haute couture for Jean Paul Gaultier and ready-to-wear for Y/project and Diesel, ed.). It was a special moment, as it was the first fashion week after Covid-19. We were growing a lot, we did it even during the pandemic. I think it was because we showed experimental garments when the rest of the industry was making pajamas and T-shirts. We went against the grain and the public rewarded us.

You worked on three very different brands at the same time...

On opposite brands, I would say, but all linked by the fun factor. When Gaultier contacted me, I had just signed the contract with Diesel. I was like, «Oh man, now I have to do it» (laughs). However, the Gaultier project kept getting put off because of Covid-19, so I planned everything in advance. Once there I just had to deliver the sketches and then develop them in the studio.

Did you design everything yourself?

I designed everything for couture. I cannot do this at Diesel because the production is too large.

Couture and ready-to-wear are two very different worlds...

Yes, of course. However, looking at my background, I would say that I have a more sartorial approach to fashion. Although I am not a professional tailor, pattern making and garment construction are my starting point as a designer. At Diesel, on the other hand, I do not need to do sketches because the job is different. I am a director here, a conductor.

What do the younger generations want?

Diversity is a core value for them, but fun also plays its part. I believe in those values myself, so it is easier for me to project them into the brand. I am lucky to work in an industry that is extremely open-minded. At Diesel, the most exciting part is the challenge of speaking to a large, international public, which is something you cannot always do with luxury brands. We easily communicate with everyone in the world, and the message we give is strong and revolutionary.

Speaking of challenges, what goals did management set for you when you joined Diesel?

When Massimo Piombini (then ceo of the brand, ed.) hired me, he made four requests: to develop a womenswear offer, to rejuvenate the brand to secure a relationship with the younger generation, just as Diesel had done in the beginning, to go back to the first price point, and finally, to develop in China.

What did Renzo Rosso say to you?

Renzo has so many ideas, he should calm down (laughs). I was not famous when he chose me. Indeed, I was quite underground, I had a niche brand, and he gave a big brand in my hands. He has been very supportive from the very beginning, and I found in him a kind of mentor. We talk and we understand each other, we trust each other. When you need to talk, he is there. He is the only one who understands me, because there has never been anyone in my position so far except him.

Did he give you any advice?

He listens to me, but he does not want to overpower me, as he lets me take the initiative. Maybe even too much at times, because I was quite a junior creative director when I arrived.

Freedom can be scary...

Yes. I did not know what a cmo (chief marketing officer, ed.) was when I came to Diesel. I googled it. Luckily, I am a fast learner. I used to have migraines in the first six months, and I could not remember ever having them in my whole life (laughs). However, I was independent from the very beginning.

What will be the next step for you and the brand?

I would like to find some peace in my private life, maybe even find love. As for Diesel, this brand is like a ship, as it took time to tack it. I think we got to that point, but the goal now is to stay on track. People have finally understood who we are and what we do.

Your last show conveyed an important message...

The fall-winter 2023/24 fashion show wanted to put sex positivity at the center through a collaboration with Durex, the brand’s first ever with a fashion house. We created an installation with 200 million condoms in the center of the parade hall. However, in addition to the spectacular part, we are also democratic, meaning that we will sell condoms for free in our stores. It is an important message for me because it is good to enjoy life, to be sexually free, but we need to do it consciously and safely. Besides, Diesel is not a classic brand, so it did not make sense to show up at the Milan fashion week in a traditional way. Last year we opened the fashion show to everyone, as well as this season. Something bigger will happen for the next season, but I cannot tell you more yet.

Will you continue to present your collections in Milan?

Milan is our home. It is important for people around the world to know that Diesel is Italian. Therefore, I think we will continue to present our collections here for a long time to come.

What do you think of music? There is a lot of music in the air... From the men’s fashion shows that were almost concerts to the appointment of Pharrell Williams as creative director of Louis Vuitton...

I think everyone is free to do what they want. At Diesel, we love to party, so the music comes with it. For example, we have collaborating since last summer with London’s radio station Nts (the first techno radio station, ed.) to launch Tracks, which brings together a mix of musical talent from 36 different cities, from Delhi to Mexico City, and explores radio mixes, live dj sets... to even become a rave party. We are a global brand and through music we want to continue to connect people around the world and communicate club culture by giving artists a stage.

What brands do you find interesting?

I do not think there is a more interesting brand than Diesel (laughs).

There is much anticipation around the debut of Phoebe Philo’s brand...

I am excited and curious to see what she will do. However, if she does not succeed, I would not be sad, because she has already been amazing. She has made collections in the past that we should all celebrate and respect. (all rights reserved)