RENZO ROSSO
Brave, Bold and Breaking Through
All my life, I’ve done things differently. I don’t think I’m a genius, but people think I’m crazy and that I do incredible things. In the end I just do things in my way,” says Renzo Rosso, pale blue eyes twinkling under a mop of salt and pepper curls, and clad in all black.
“I put a touch of modernity into the existing. Normally people just see things as they are and not how they could be so I think that’s how I was different.”
The day of our interview the Italian fashion mogul had been speaking to a crowd of about 200 local cool kids gathered at Shanghai Fashion Week’s Labelhood platform. Waxing lyrical about how he bucked conventions to become the world’s greatest living denim king, Rosso, at 63, clearly still has that rebel spirit.
Rosso was born in 1955, in a post-war Italy obsessed with Americana: classic Hollywood films, Coca-Cola, James Dean, Marlon Brando – moody iconic heroes in jeans. “I didn’t like to study, of course,” he laughs.
He came from a family involved in farming and agriculture, but went into textiles education because he thought it would be easy. He made his first pair of jeans at the age of 15 – a pair of outrageous flares for himself – and later started creating items for friends who loved his style. Rosso, obsessed with all things vintage, argues that “in vintage you can find a life, a history. If something is destroyed or worn, it seems to have more of a life.”
Rosso would go on to work in a denim company, rapidly increasing its sales and then partnering with it to start the Diesel brand; he acquired full control in 1985.
“Trying the distressed effect, making jeans look like they are already worn and broken … I was just trying something and my friends loved it so much, you know? I started to produce a few pairs for my friends and this was the beginning of my story,” he recalls.
“When we were in the beginning of the ’80s I was selling these kind of things to the stores – it was really difficult, I have to say. Just a few accepted: just one in LA, one in London and one in New York. One – it was very particular. A lot of the times people sent the stock back, because they thought the jeans were damaged: ‘What was this shit!?’ they’d say.”
Now it’s clear who’s had the last laugh. Not only has Rosso made a fashion empire from denim – the oncehumble staple of working-class workwear – but “now all the brands in the world, and all the luxury brands, are in this direction”, he says, not without some relish.
After helping to expand Diesel globally, he went from being “the jeans guy”, largely underestimated by the snobbier designer fashion circles, to a master businessman, fashion retailer and branding guru who, with the establishment of his empire, was warmly embraced by the high-fashion industry.
Today, Rosso presides over some 7,000 employees worldwide, with his parent company Only the Brave (OTB) generating €1.4 billion in annual revenue. As president of the group – which owns Diesel as well as Maison Martin Margiela, Paula Cademartori, Marni and Viktor & Rolf, all brands that he acquired – he frequently finds himself “in love with something special, something very beautiful”.
“I started discovering more and more crazy designers … all these brands I invested in are different but you can see a new silhouette and new way to think.”
The dedication is real. Rosso has the famous four Margiela stitches tattooed on his back, his motto “Only the Brave” inked on his ankle and the OTB mohawked head on his upper arm for good measure. Not only did he offer these brands investment and financial security, but the designers were also often vocal about Rosso’s respect for creative freedom and integrity.
“I never designed anything in my life,” he says. “I’m not a designer. I’m an entrepreneur and creative, but I know very well what I want. I’m good at communicating with designers on what I want and trusting that they can interpret it in their own way.”
Then there’s his ownership of Staff International, which manufactures and distributes for the likes of Vivienne Westwood and DSquared². Other projects, such as Diesel Farm, a source of beautiful Italian fresh produce, as well as the non-profit OTB Foundation, keep Rosso a busy man. That’s when he’s not travelling around Africa with Bono or mingling at parties with Kim Kardashian.
Rosso’s plate is most definitely full, but the path he’s taken has hardly been predictable or conventional. Only the Brave isn’t just a company name, but a personal motto. It’s that boundary-breaking attitude that set off campaigns such as the infamous “Be stupid” ad. Soon, not only were his products known for being radical, but the racy Diesel advertising campaigns of the ’90s also pioneered the focus on “a philosophy and a lifestyle” of individualism and rebellion, rather than “most of the ads at that time, [which] were just about product, product, product.
“Starting in 1991, we had a campaign that changed the world of advertising. It was something that hadn’t existed before. My advertising was about interaction, how I can communicate with my consumer to build the connection, the emotion,” Rosso explains. “And I thought if they liked my idea they would go to the store and buy my product.”
Diesel was never just about selling jeans; its success rode on selling a lifestyle and a dream. That hasn’t changed – and Rosso’s early mastery of marketing magic is now legendary. It’s also made him, by Forbes’ estimations, the 10th richest man in Italy. But Rosso is quick to point out that he doesn’t define success economically. “I never did anything just for the money,” he explains. It was always a project of “passion”.
That attitude resonates with the youthful street cultures that Rosso both sells to and lionises. Having a finger on the pulse of the subculture zeitgeist has always been key to Diesel’s global takeover.
And now the down-to-earth entrepreneur is mixing with the Shanghai crowd at the Diesel DIY denim workshop and the likes of local designer Xander Zhou. After taking selfies with fans and having a go at jumping into a branded plastic ball pit, he makes his way to a dinner with the Chinese press and the artists featured in the latest local Diesel campaign. It’s also an opportunity for him to connect and engage with a young Chinese generation, and a massive and growing market pushing forward its own expressions of individualism. And he has some advice for those hoping to make it as the next big fashion talent.
“Don’t think that being a designer is anything easy,” he says when I ask him what it takes. “In order to be a serious designer you have to suffer a lot, you work a lot and you have to work hard.
“You’ll make mistakes. I always make mistakes in my life. Through your mistakes you can grow. If you never make mistakes, you never grow,” Rosso adds, eyes momentarily wandering into the distance. “In any case it’s not important how big you become, the most important thing is to find where you are strong, find your unique direction, and spend your energy just in that direction. It’s important how happy you are in the end.”
“YOU’LL MAKE MISTAKES. IF YOU NEVER MAKE MISTAKES, YOU NEVER GROW”