Top Italian fashion house decides to ‘go with the flaw’
People like to pursue perfection: perfect makeup, perfectly matching clothes, perfect selfie. But Italian fashion brand Diesel’s fall/winter 2017/2018 campaign aims to “go with the flaw”.
Chinese pop star Chris Lee Yuchun is Diesel’s new ambassador. She not only stars in the short advertisement movie for the campaign, but has collaborated with Diesel’s creative director Nicola Formichetti to create a limited edition capsule collection.
The collection, which is now available in selected stores worldwide, advocates a candid approach toward one’s ego while celebrating imperfection.
The collection adopts a blackwhite color palette based on Diesel’s classic denim styles. Incorporating imperfections and “flaws” as main design elements. The collection features a unisex, androgynous look that boldly proclaims its uniqueness.
It includes products such as baseball caps, T-shirts, hoodies, jeans and denim jackets.
Each tear and rip in the garment reveals a series of messages hidden below the surface.
Meanwhile, Lee appears in the movie with the line “Go with square face” as her square face is not considered a “pretty” woman’s face.
Speaking about the campaign, she says: “We are often bound by today’s social media rules, and we all have developed a similar view of what is considered the ‘perfect’ appearance and the ‘perfect’ life. But, everyone has their shortcomings and flaws which should not be glossed over. I believe those flaws are cool in themselves and can be considered as strengths.”
Speaking about Lee, Formichetti says: “Diesel’s brand philosophy of passion and personality fits in with her character.”
Separately, Formichetti, who has just announced his departure, says the collection is his last work with Diesel.
In a related development, Renzo Rosso, the president of the OTB Group, the parent company of Diesel, who met Lee in Cannes in May, says: “We had a nice conversation and she is a lovely person. She subverts tradition, and has her own style in dealing with controversy.”
The Italian fashion entrepreneur says China is a very important market for OTB as the millennials in the country are fashionable, well-informed and spend more.
“They don’t believe advertisements, they believe the idols. They follow their idols, see what they do, what they eat, what they wear,” says Rosso and that’s why Diesel chose Lee this year after Hong Kong pop star William Chen last year.
Rosso, 62, referred to as “jeans genius”, got his first pair of new pants at 12, because he was born in a poor family and always wore clothes taken from his elder brother.
“It was jeans. So you can imagine how excited I was with them,” he says.
Then at 15 he made his first pair of jeans. It was the start of his career. Later, he went to fashion school in Italy and then in the United States.
He remembers his first trip to Shanghai in the late 1980s. “There was no jeans then. So, it’s great, I think, I can sell jeans in the city.”
Some 15 years ago, Diesel entered China from Hong Kong and 10 years ago it opened an office on the mainland. Now, it has 35 stores in some 20 cities in China.